A Kaiser in Modern MidChilda
by Epsilon Zeta
Summary: Olivie Segbrecht's life wasn't supposed to be this way.  She was supposed to be a king, ruling over a peaceful world.  She wasn't supposed to be... a mother!
1. Look Who Dropped In For Lunch

_Heat… smoke… those sensations that burned against her skin… but that didn't matter. She made it outside with this last little girl from the burning building. "I got her!" _

"_Bring her over here!" She moved to the medical station as quickly as she could and placed the child's body down and grabbed a ventilator before placing the mask section on the child's mouth. A quick check showed the magical battery in place. _

_She looked down at the child. "You're gonna be okay. You hear me?" _

_There was no response from the girl, even as the ventilator did its job of pumping oxygen. _

"_She's… she's not breathing? Why isn't she breathing?" _

_The nearby medic ran scans. "Her respiratory system has sustained burns. She's inhaled too much smoke." _

_An older male voice tried to pull her away. "Nakajima, that's enough. Let it go." _

"_She just needs to get direct oxygen into her lungs, right? I can save her!" _

"_NAKAJIMA!"_

'Dammit…'

It was April 28th MC 0077. A nice spring day on TSAB Administrated World #3, Vaizen. Subaru Nakajima would have agreed if thoughts on the last disaster mission did not plague her.

After being granted a leave of absence from her commanding officer, she figured that she could travel to Vaizen for a training trip to clear her head and get stronger. This way, when the next disaster hit, she would be able to save everyone. It was hard trying to get in the mood for training though, especially when her mind kept replaying that scene over and over.

The morning was a bit of a write off so she decided to prepare lunch. Hopefully, she would get her mental well being back on track after a full meal. Her lapse in concentration however caused her to put too many ingredients into the pot. Even if she was a big eater, she was certain that she wouldn't be able to finish all that food, which meant some of it would go to waste.

A rustle in the bushes behind her shook her out of her thoughts along with the ramblings of a young male child. "Alright, time to catch some fish for… lunch?" From out of the bushes, a small boy with brown hair and light blue eyes emerged. He was dressed in a light blue and white shirt and a pair of jeans and carried some fishing gear.

'A local kid?' Hm… perhaps he could help make sure this food doesn't go to waste. She gave a small smile in order to make the child at ease. "I've made a bit too much food. You mind joining me for lunch?"

"My mom says I'm not supposed to talk to strangers or take any food from them," said the young boy with a guarded look.

"Um, that's true… but I'm not a bad guy! I'm a Bureau officer." Subaru fished out her identification to show to the boy. "See?"

He looked at it for a moment before asking another question. "… um, can I bring my mom with me? If we eat here, we can save our fishing supplies for another trip."

"Sure! There's plenty enough for everyone!" As soon as the boy disappeared back into the bushes, Subaru decided that since he would be bringing a guest, she would need to carefully season the stew for maximum taste. "Let's see what I got here… garlic? Hmmm… thyme?"

"Mom, over here! The officer lady's over here!"

Wow, that kid was quick. 'Looks like I'll stick with plain old pepper,' thought the young woman to herself as she reached for the small container…

"Hold on, Touma! Don't be so hasty!"

… And nearly dropped it as she heard a very familiar female voice call out for her son. 'That woman… it can't be…'

She turned around just in time to see the boy pull his mother along, a young attractive woman in a white sundress. But two particular features stood out and those were her eyes and her hair colour. They were the exact same colours as…

"Vivio?"

"I beg your pardon?" asked the woman with a polite smile.

"S-sorry, I got you mixed up with someone else. She has the same eyes as you." Yeah, that's right… Vivio's just a kid and she's back at the home world with school so there's no way…

"Really? I always thought I was unique." The mother and son took a place at the picnic bench nearby while Subaru brought the pot over so she could serve lunch.

"Whaaa… that's a big pot there, officer lady!" exclaimed the boy while Subaru brought out some bowls and spoons along with the serving spoon.

"Please don't call me that! Kinda feels awkward. Just call me by my name, Subaru. Or you can call me Su-chan if you like! What are your names?"

"Olivie Segbrecht. And this is my adopted son, Touma Avenir. A pleasure to meet you!" replied the other woman in a sunny tone.

'Olivie… Olivie… for some reason that name sounds kinda familiar,' thought Subaru to herself.

'That's the name of the last Saint King, you moron!' sounded a voice in her head that sounded awfully familiar to her best friend.

'Ah, that's it! Just as I expected of Te-'

That was when all thought processes came to a screeching stop causing her to drop the serving spoon.

"**EEEEEEEEHHHHHHHH? ! ? ! ? **You… you're…!" Subaru was trying really hard not to sputter but considering the name given from the figure across from her, she couldn't be faulted for having such a reaction.

"Su-chan dropped the spoon. Now it's all dirty," commented Touma.

"Would you mind cleaning it up, sweetie?"

"Okay, mom!" The young boy took the spoon and went to the lake to clean it up as best as he could, leaving the two young women alone.

"You're really the last Saint King? Sankt Kaiser Olivie Segbrecht?"

Olivie's smile never left her face. "I am who I am. It's up to you whether or not you believe me on that account."

Subaru paused, choosing her words carefully. "I… really don't know what to say. History said that you perished to put an end to the Saint King Unification War."

"So that's what history says, hm?" The blonde woman closed her eyes for a moment. "It probably would have been true if my original plan had gone as intended. However…"

"_If seeing a world with a blue sky, beautiful flowers and free from the ravages of war is what you truly desire, then let this Myrddin grant your wish."_

"I couldn't understand what he meant at the time but before I knew it, I had arrived in this world."

Subaru couldn't believe what she was hearing but she didn't have a chance to ask more about it as Touma came back with the serving spoon. "All clean!"

"Then let's dig in!" exclaimed Olivie in that cheerful tone of hers.

The meal passed by before Subaru knew it, with all the miscellaneous chatter that had gone around the table. She had been hoping to use the time to pry some more information from the mother and son pair but somehow she ended up talking more about her job as they were interested in what type of officer work she did. It was somewhat puzzling for her since they were residents of an administrated world and have some basic knowledge about the Bureau's structure and getting access to services.

Okay, Olivie she could understand, assuming her implied story of being flung to this world from her timeline is true instead of the more likely story in that she was a very well made clone of the last Saint King. But why did Touma not know more about the Bureau?

When she posed that question to the young boy, he replied that it wasn't something that was commonly talked about in his village. They had more important concerns, such as working on the mine and digging for ore and metals to fulfill their employer's quota.

'So he came from the mining village that was destroyed three years ago, the one that was classified as a wide scale accident because of improper mining explosive storage.' She remembered reading that story one day during her orientation sessions with the Disaster Relief division. But something still nagged at her.

"Ahhh… that was a good meal! You make a mean stew, Su-chan!"

"Eh?" Upon hearing the young woman's comment, Subaru's vision turned towards the pot she had cooked earlier. One look inside the gigantic pot showed that there was pretty much nothing left in there. "Wow, you really polished off a lot of that stuff… and I didn't even get seconds!"

Olivie giggled slightly. "Hehe… I like to eat healthy when I can!"

Both the mother and the son stayed around to help with the clean up. Touma went back to the lake to rinse the smaller dishes while both Olivie helped with scrubbing down the giant pot. Since they were by themselves, Subaru took the opportunity to try and clear some things. "But when the Bureau investigated the village three years ago, they found no survivors. Why was that?"

"The day I arrived on this world was the same day I found him. Among the wreckage of his ruined home and about to be executed by those two…"

"What?" Thoughts began racing through Subaru's head. 'Was that incident actually a massacre?'

"I don't know who they were and they had some odd power to them that reduced the impact of my spells. But I was still able to drive them off."

"I see." This changed a lot of things. With this woman's testimony, the case of the destruction of the village could be reopened and re-examined.

"The first year was the hardest. Along with finding a suitable place to live, I had to juggle raising Touma and a plan to sustain ourselves. But eventually, we managed to put together a sense of routine and here we are, doing fine three years after I found him."

While Olivie went back to scrubbing, Subaru pondered on how she could get this woman back to Mid-Childa so that she would be well guarded in case the culprits behind the village massacre came back with a lot of friends. The Saint Church would undoubtedly go out of the way to be of assistance. And it would be in the Bureau's best interests to keep her in their sights since in addition to providing insight on the case, if this woman truly had the blood of the Saint King, she could probably trigger Lost Logia just be being in their vicinity. The question was how to go about convincing her to leave this world. It seemed that Olivie and Touma managed to build a life for themselves here.

Then it came to Subaru. Touma would be the key. Olivie had spent the last three years raising Touma as her own son. Therefore, she would want to do what's best for him. She rapidly formed a plan as she attacked a particularly dirty spot on the pot. "I see you've done well for yourself and Touma but…"

"But?"

"To be honest, Vaizen may not be exactly the best world to be raising a child like him." Subaru reached for the bucket of water that had been gathered earlier by Touma and began to rinse the inside of the pot.

"What do you mean?" asked Olivie curiously.

The other woman went into her explanation. "On one hand, you have the technologically advanced cities. In order to thrive there, you have to be very well educated either in business subjects or the sciences in order to get a job with one of the major employers there. If Touma-kun truly wanted to become a scientist or a business man, then he may be able to adjust to city life in Vaizen but to me, he doesn't seem to be that type of person."

"I guess that makes sense…"

"Then you have the smaller towns and cities that are primarily established by the bigger corporations in order to gather natural resources. They're usually tight knit communities so it might be difficult trying to fit in there if you dropped by one of them with the hopes of settling in. Or you could keep doing what you have been doing, living off the land by yourselves. But living in isolation wouldn't be healthy." She paused for a moment before laying out the hook. "Especially for a child like Touma-kun."

"Eh?"

"He should be growing up with peers to naturally interact with. He needs to make friends and build relationships with those his age." That should plant some interesting questions in Olivie's mind.

"That's true. Then where would you suggest I raise Touma?"

With a calm smile, Subaru made the pitch. "How about coming back with me to Mid-Childa? There are a lot of people raising their families there so Touma will have plenty of kids his age to spend time with.

"That sounds nice…" There was a bit of uncertainty in those green and red eyes of Olivie's.

"You don't have to give me an answer right now. I'll be staying on this world for a few days to train so just take the time to think it over. Okay?"

The blonde woman paused for a moment before smiling. "That's very kind of you, considering you've given me quite a lot to think about."

* * *

><p>That evening, Olivie brewed herself a cup of tea while pondering what to do in regards to Touma's future.<p>

She liked to think that she had done well so far in the three years that she raised him. Along with getting him involved in important tasks like house work and hunting for food, she had been teaching him some of the basic aspects of her combat arts. He had taken to it quite well since it was an easy way to work off any extra energy he had during the day. And his progress meant that he would be able to fend for himself if a fight broke out.

Granted, he doesn't have the physical conditioning to be able to withstand some of the more advanced enhancement spells. He could do smaller ones for temporary boosts of speed and strength. By her estimates, he was probably strong enough to defeat a squire that was on the threshold of reaching knighthood back in her era. With a few more years of proper training (and nothing insane like what she had went through as a child living on the Cradle before being sent to Shutra), he could probably go toe to toe with the average battalion vice-captain.

Even with that, Olivie realized that she wasn't fully meeting all of Touma's emotional needs. Sure, she provided a home, a sense of stability and security and her son had her maternal love and attention. But as he grows older, he will encounter certain issues and aspects of life that could only be spoken about between men. Her dear friend Claus was like that and spoke with his knights whenever something bothered him that he couldn't share with her.

The thought of Claus caused her to pause for a moment. Her memories of him had served as the foundation for her vision of the type of man Touma should become. However, tales of her friend can only do so much to help her son determine for himself the path to develop into a proper young man. Perhaps this Mid-Childa world would be able to offer some suitable male role models who could influence Touma in a positive manner.

"Mom?"

Her eyes spotted the young boy entering the kitchen, clad in a t-shirt and shorts that served as his regular sleepwear. "Yes, Touma?"

"Is there something bothering you?"

"I wouldn't say bothering… but Su-chan laid out an interesting offer. She said that she would be willing to take us to Mid-Childa."

Touma sat down across from his mother at the table. "Mid-Childa? That's the Bureau's home world."

Olivie idly stirred her cold tea. "She said that it might be a better place to live for the two of us compared to this place. What do you think?"

"I'll go wherever you want to go, Mom. You were there for me ever since that day."

"Would you feel comfortable moving to a larger area? Or do you want to stay at this home?"

"As far as I'm concerned, the only place I can call home is a place that has you in it," said the boy softly.

Olivie smiled at her son. "I'm glad to hear that."

"What about you, Mom? If you were my age and had your mom or dad ask you the same question, how would you respond?"

She went quiet for a bit as her mind went back to her childhood on the Cradle, which wasn't a particularly warm and loving one. Her daily activities had been carefully planned in advance. Mornings were for strict training in her combat arts and magic. Often, the elders of her family would test the limits of the Relic that they had fused with her Linker Core shortly after she had been born.

It wasn't very fun at all.

Afternoons were a little better when she would study military strategy and learn more about the army she was to lead to invade worlds who broke away from the Belkan Empire. She had gotten to know many different battalions of knights and found a sense of companionship with them, despite the difference in age and status. And any time she heard news of these brave men falling in battle, all she could do was silently mourn for them while life went on in the Cradle.

The evenings were often spent familiarizing her with the controls of the Cradle and learning how to operate those defensive machines. Those things bothered her with their razor sharp sickles.

And that daily routine would continue on until an arrangement by her father allowed her to leave the Cradle and stay in Shutra. It was quite possibly the happiest time in her life and even better when she found some friends about her age. The young prince of the land, Claus Ingvalt… and that quiet smaller boy who was studying to become a Court Magus, Myrddin. She hadn't been certain how Claus would have taken it if he knew that she had another friend like him. He probably would have been jealous and acted irrationally and caused a huge mess.

Then again, she wondered how things would have turned out if they had been a proper united trinity. Myrddin had a talent for certain Rare Skills and Spells in the Belkan magic system and combined with her combat arts and the Kaiser Arts of Ingvalt, they could have brought the Unification War to an end without anyone having to make a sacrifice.

"Mom?"

"Sorry… I was just thinking for a bit…" She paused for a bit before she addressed her son again. "And I think that if I had the chance, I would have liked to move there and meet new people and find new friends. If I never left the Cradle, I don't think I would be the person I am now."

Touma gave a little smile. "Then I guess you have your answer."

Olivie smiled back at the boy. "So it seems."


	2. A Poor Reception

The trip started out innocently enough. The shuttle craft was a bit more cramped than usual since Subaru had squeezed in two more passengers and their belongings leaving little space. That didn't bother Touma or Olivie at all.

Obviously with the mother and son about to become new citizens, they had been handed a package that had information about the different regions and communities in Mid-Childa, the education system and other things to help them as newcomers get settled as new residents on the planet. She had expected them to be able to understand things easily since the package was presented in such a simple manner.

But there were a few problems…

"What kind of weird looking alphabet is this? This character looks backward!"

For starters, Olivie was unable to read the Mid-Childan language. While she was a very educated individual, her literacy only applied to Ancient Belkan languages.

Fortunately for her, Touma was able to help although his reading level wasn't as high as it should be thanks to his education being quite different for the past three years. Eventually, Subaru had to spend time to help them understand things instead of working on her report to reopen the investigation regarding the 'accident' on Vaizen.

So aside from finding suitable housing and a job and finding a proper school for Touma, Olivie would also need to take adult literacy classes. 'It's times like these that I wish the basic translation spells made it easier for someone to read another language.'

After a few hours of going through this information, Subaru decided to give them a break. "Okay, let's take a breather for a bit."

"Thank you, Su-chan! Ah… all this information just to become a citizen of a new world. I bet Asteion never had that problem whenever he moved from country to country on his adventures."

The Bureau officer blinked in confusion. "Who?"

"Asteion!" chirped Olivie. "He's the childhood story character that me and Claus liked so much. A little hero with a heart always full of courage."

"Tales of Asteion? I think there were a few new stories published to introduce him to a new audience," murmured Subaru.

The red and green eyes of the other woman lit up. "Really? Please show them to me!"

* * *

><p>"<em>You came, Siegfried… just as I thought you would." A pause. "So you're planning to save the world, huh?" <em>

_The silver armoured Knight only drew his weapon in response. "That is our mission. We have yet not lost hope. What I cannot understand is why someone such as you has given in to despair, Asteion." _

_Laughter came from his red armoured opponent. "Hope? The hope you desire is nothing but a dream! If you keep chasing that, you'll never see the truth. That no matter what you do, it won't mean anything in this endless war. The continuing cycle of battle, death and rebirth is the only truth in this world. Foolish things such as hope should be abandoned and you should accept the cycle as it is. I have… and I gotta say that I'm at least getting a kick out of the never-ending battle!"_

"What is this? What happened to the Tio I remembered?" wailed Olivie from her seat.

"Um… well, the thing is that there are no intellectual property rights to Asteion at this point. The character and the setting have been part of the public domain for the past few years so that means he can be freely used for derivative works without permission," said Subaru while taking a break from her storytelling. "The book I got here is simply a reinterpretation of the source material for a different audience."

"He sounds a lot more different from the bedtime stories that Mom told me," murmured Touma. "It's a bit weird."

"This version got quite a bit of mixed reaction back home but it's bringing in a lot of money for the authors so trying to force them to halt their take on Asteion's not likely."

Olivie didn't like hearing what Subaru just said. "B-but… I… AUGH!"

"You're taking this awfully seriously. I mean, he's just a fictional character."

"He's not just a fictional character to me," said the blonde woman quietly which caught Subaru by surprise. "As a child growing up on the Cradle, everything I saw… everything I experienced… everything I learned was tied back to the Unification War in some fashion. Except for the bedtime story my nanny would tell me: the story of the courageous hero Asteion. I grew to treasure that fictional world where a happy ending was possible with enough resolve and determination instead of the dreary life of never-ending war."

Subaru really didn't know how to respond to that. "Uh…"

"The strong feelings brought out by those stories… if it weren't for them, I probably would have had a harder time understanding Claus."

"Uh…" Fortunately for the Bureau officer, she was spared any further awkwardness by the shuttle controls alerting her that they were arriving at their destination. "Sorry but I… you know."

"Ah, go right ahead, Su-chan!" The gloomy tone of Olivie vanished and she was once again that sunny woman and nurturing mother of Touma.

Subaru headed back to the cockpit and began a slow shut down of the dimensional drive before making the standard hail. "This is Shuttlecraft _Swordfish_ to Dimensional Station Kappa. Requesting clearance to dock."

"**This is Dimensional Station Kappa. You have been authorized to dock at Port 4A."**

"Acknowledged. _Swordfish_ out."

* * *

><p>"I don't understand why she requested my help. Immigration cases aren't exactly in my jurisdiction," said Hayate Yagami while she waited in her office for her latest appointment to come.<p>

"She's probably more comfortable dealing with you," said the other woman sitting on the guest couch while sipping tea.

"But you're more used to handling these types of issues, Carim. The Saint Church takes in plenty of people seeking sanctuary. You're better equipped to evaluate and review these types of cases." The Lieutenant Colonel paused for a moment before glancing at Signum and Vita who had popped into the office from the second entrance. "And what are you two doing here?"

"Heard you were meeting up with someone strange and we just wanted to check out who it is," said Vita. "I'm guessing that Carim's not the guest you're expecting."

"No, it's not. And you two are overreacting!" exclaimed Hayate.

"We will only stay a few moments to evaluate this guest for ourselves. Once we are satisfied, we will take our leave," replied Signum.

The group then heard a knock on the main door before they saw a familiar face slowly poke into the room. "Excuse me… am I interrupting?"

"No, come in, Subaru!"

The main door opened to reveal a saluting Subaru and her guests standing right behind her. "Corporal Nakajima reporting as scheduled, madam! Allow me to introduce my guests…"

Carim Gracia's eyes widened in shock along with the other three inhabitants of the office. "That's…!"

"… … Vivio?" No, that other woman carried herself differently in a far more mature and powerful manner. Hayate couldn't put her finger to it though.

"Subaru-san?" There was something odd about the way Olivie sounded. Instead of that spunky warm woman she met back on Vaizen, this Olivie was far more formal and guarded. Appropriate for a Warrior King.

It made Subaru Nakajima rather nervous. "What is it?"

"I didn't realize you were associated with a pair of killing machines," said the Saint King as her green and red eyes locked on to the two Wolkenritter.

From Carim's viewpoint, Olivie really did look like she had leapt out of one of those old paintings that hung around in the Grand Cathedral. The attire that consisted of a simple blue top which left her shoulders exposed while a light white skirt complimented the look. There was also the golden necklace around her neck which gave off the feel of a Lost Logia. Her golden hair was kept in a bun tied together with a blue bow although there were a few loose strands that dangled around her face.

But this Olivie didn't have the serene smile that was on the painted Olivie's face. Instead, she appeared calm and focused, even when looking at Vita and Signum with hostility. She was also positioned in a way to make it easier to protect the boy next to her in case a fight broke out.

'Can it be… another product of Project F?' All Carim knew was that her heart told her that this was the genuine Saint King. Her commanding presence that is mixed in with her bright heart and her subtle spirit… it was enough to make some part of Carim to want to accept this fact at face value and kneel before the young woman standing in front of her.

"Killing machines? W-what are you talking about?" asked Subaru nervously in response to Olivie's accusation.

"Subaru, can you leave us alone for a moment? We need to explain some things to our guest in private," said Carim quietly.

"Eh…? But…"

"Please? And can you take the boy with you?"

Judging by the way the Church Director was asking her, there was a lot more going on than she realized. Apparently, whatever they were going to talk about was well beyond her need to know. "… yes, madam. Olivie, would you mind…?"

"I'll leave him in your care for now, Subaru-san," said Olivie quietly as she moved past the young officer to enter the office.

For some reason, the Corporal felt a sense of relief upon hearing that. It was probably because that even with the situation as it is, she was still trusted enough to look after the other woman's son. "Thank you. Let's go, Touma-kun. How about I show you around my department office?"

"Sure, Su-chan!" And with that, the duo left and closed the door behind them, leaving the group of five alone.

"So is someone going to answer my earlier question?" asked Olivie in that same calm and commanding tone. "Why are two of the Guardian Knights working in this organization? And where are the other two? The Knight of the Shield and the Knight of the Lake… are those killers gathering life energy from innocent lives for their Master?"

"Don't label my family in such a manner! Shamal, Zafira, Signum and Vita-chan… … they're all kind people! I won't have you say such things about them!"

Her multi coloured eyes zoomed in on Hayate after that outburst. "And you are?"

"It is a bit of a long story, Your Majesty. Let me first get you familiar with that young lady," said Carim as she attempted to try and take control of the conversation. "Allow me to introduce Hayate Yagami, the final Master of the Buch der Dunkelheit and the one who broke the cycle as you know it."

"W-what?" Olivie was rather surprised at this revelation upon hearing that the young lady who defended the Knights so passionately was indeed their Master. She looked so open and honest. How is it that someone like her managed to get a hold of such an artifact?

"Please take a seat and I'll explain everything as best as I can."

* * *

><p>"And this is my desk! As you can see…"<p>

"It's a mess," finished Touma in a flat tone, seeing the stack of papers on his tour guide's designated working space.

Subaru chuckled sheepishly. "Hehehe… the thing is that when you're in a department like mine, it's rare that you get enough time to finish all your paperwork for the day."

"Or you just aren't efficient enough in processing it," said an older man as he entered the department with some cold drinks in his hands. The scars on his face were his most distinctive features, which caught Touma's attention.

"Come on, Captain! Give me a break… I'm more suited for doing field work." She paused for a moment. "Ah, that reminds me. Touma-kun, this is my senior officer Voltz Stan."

"Hello there!" waved the other man.

"How did you get those scars?" asked the younger boy.

Stan's eyes took on an odd look as he moved closer to Touma. "There's a real scary story behind it. You see, it had to do with my crazy father who decided to stick a blade in my mou-"

"Captain, there are to be no scary stories on my watch," said Subaru in a firm tone. The last thing she wanted was a traumatized Touma to stir up Olivie's maternal instincts and cause a huge mess at the base.

"Alright, fine," said Stan with a huff before offering one of the cold drinks to the boy. "The real story behind them is that they came from a few injuries from working at the big airport fire disaster about six years ago."

"I see. That must have been real scary being close to that."

"I just wanted to help people. Didn't have the time to get scared," answered the Captain as he popped open his own drink and took a sip.

"Captain, since I have you here, I was wondering if you can help me with something."

He paused for a moment, allowing the cool liquid to go down his throat before answering. "What is it, Nakajima?"

"I would like to reopen the case about the destruction of the mining town in Vaizen. Touma-kun here is actually a former resident and he probably has quite the story to tell."

* * *

><p>"It all started out as a normal day in the village. In my case, it was going to be a bit special since I would be taking a tour of the mines with my class from the town school. See how the operation is run up close and get an idea of where we might be placed when we finish our studies."<p>

It had been a few minutes since Touma got taken to a more quiet area in the office to give out his account of events on that particular case. Both Subaru and Stan were with him as another officer took down the story.

"I can't remember the exact time of the incident. It must have been just after midday. All I remember is a loud explosion that messed up my senses and caused me to black out. When I woke up, I remember blood coming down from the top of my head and a lot of rubble on my body."

"He was lucky that the rubble didn't crush his spinal cord," muttered Stan under his breath so that only his subordinate would hear him.

"I guess he was just small enough to avoid serious injuries to his body," noted Subaru. "Or he's just naturally tougher than the average kid. Maybe both…?"

"I couldn't see much at first. My head felt like it would split apart. I tried to call out for help but I only ended up coughing and hurting my chest more. But somehow, someone managed to hear me. I was able to hear their footsteps approaching. Before I knew it, those people had broken me free."

"Describe them for me," said the officer across the table as he continued taking detailed notes. "Try to recall as much detail as you can. Any particular features that made them stick out?"

Touma paused for a moment to try and recall the appearances of those who found him. "There were two of them. A lady about Su-chan's age with long dark hair. She had long gloves on and some one piece black body suit. And she had this blue wing tattoo on her left shoulder. Then there was that guy with brown spiky hair and blue eyes. Looked mean and scary and had a big chin. He had on some black jacket and dark pants. I think I saw the same mark as that lady on his left wrist but I wasn't sure."

'A blue wing tattoo? Maybe some kind of organized crime group…' Stan was already thinking of potential leads to look into.

"When the lady talked to me, she asked if I saw anyone else who had the same blue wing tattoo before the explosion. She called herself an Eclipse Driver. I can't remember if I said anything. I probably didn't since the guy got kinda mad when I didn't answer the lady. She didn't get mad though. She said something like how it can't be helped and that I wouldn't be able to say anything because of how tired I was. Then she went…"

"_That's why I'll let him have a long nice undisturbed nap. What do you say, boya?"_

Subaru managed to piece together the indications, much to her horror. 'She would have…!'

"The guy stopped being mad when he heard that and asked her if that was a good idea. She said that it was for my own good because for someone like me, I would end up in the…" He paused to remember the words she used. "… Bureau's shitty foster care system."

'So the woman used to be an orphan in our care?' Judging by the boy's earlier statement, Stan estimated that the female in question had been in the Bureau's custody at some point six to seven years ago. The Bureau's normal foster care system had high standards with highly trained caregivers to create a warm environment in all state sponsored orphanages on any administrated world so if she had such a negative opinion of the Bureau, then the most likely place she ended up in was the Bureau's Special Care Center.

He could easily understand that place being a very poor environment to raise children. For all the practical purposes it served in terms of looking after children in state custody with strong magic potential, it wasn't the most ideal environment for a child to develop a normal mental well being. Bureau audits have shown that most children who are raised there turn out to be disciplined commissioned officers but how many of them actually chose that path by their own will without being influenced? And how many children fell through the cracks of the system?

He was aware that Subaru's friend and former colleague Erio Mondial had nearly been one of them. God know how many children actually did fall through. The standards of care had been going up over the years to address the problem so better late than never. But if the problem had been fixed earlier and that girl had been cared for properly…

While those thoughts continued to dance around Stan's mind, Touma continued his story. "Before anything happened, the guy behind the lady got hit with something that looked like a brown blur with traces of green electricity. And then before the other lady could react…"

"_**Roter Donnerfaust!"**_

"It was the first time I met Mom. She punched that other lady who wanted to let me sleep really, really hard in the face with her left metal glove and went after them. At the time, I wasn't sure if I should have been happy that someone saved me or upset that someone prevented me from dying quietly since I couldn't regain my old life. Eventually, she came back for me and took me with her." The boy paused to catch his breath for a bit. "Things didn't go well at first. I wasn't exactly a good boy since I was angry and sad and… a lot of other things. Honestly, my mom had the patience of a Saint to care for me as long as she did when I was bad. It was only a few months later that I realized how lucky I was to have her in my life. And from there, we just lived as best as we could off the land."

"Well, that's quite the story," said the officer who had been taking notes before turning to Subaru. "Can we bring the boy's mother here? I would like to hear her account of events. Maybe I can pick out some additional new information to add to the case file."

"Just a second." She opened up a telepathic connection to contact Hayate. _"Lieutenant Colonel Yagami?" _

"_What is it, Subaru-san?" _

"_Is it possible for us to borrow Olivie-san for a bit?"_

There was an uncomfortable pause that came from the other side. _"I'm afraid not. She's going to be occupied for a while." _

"_Doing what exactly?" _

"_Fighting Signum." _

"_WHAT?"_


	3. Enter the Heat of Battle

There was a long drawn out pause after Carim finished explaining the chain of events as Hayate had told her long ago. Olivie was glad that she had taken a seat as advised by the other woman earlier. "T-that all happened…? It's too hard to believe…!"

"That's rather understandable. I wasn't certain what to believe myself when we first heard several years ago that the Master of the Book and the Wolkenritter would be moving to this world. We weren't sure what to make of them since our archives did carry some information about the Buch der Dunkelheit," said the Saint Church Director. "We kept our distance at first until we saw Hayate and her Knights work hard to serve the community over the years. It was enough to help quash our doubts and put our trust in them."

"You were familiar with their deeds?" asked Olivie.

"As the modern observers of all aspects of Ancient Belkan history and culture, members of the Saint Church are familiar with prominent figures and Lost Logia from that time frame. The Buch der Dunkelheit was quite infamous."

She frowned for a moment as she searched her memories for a religion that matched the description given to her. "Saint Church? I don't recall any such religion in my time."

"The Church is actually a successor group to the Yevon movement that started on Shutra at least a year before the end of the Unification War," explained Carim.

"Yevon…? So that's how it is…" She recalled that at that time period, the regular villages that were located in the immediate surrounding territory of Ingvalt's castle got battered by disastrous weather which caused major disruptions to farming season. It was enough to get her and Claus to make regular trips to various communities. While the Hegemon would be primarily responsible for overlooking relief efforts, she taught valuable life lessons to prevent the people from falling to their negative emotions. The continuous boosting of spirits over the months had led to the Yevon movement in which the affected villages that received those life lessons spread it to others.

"Indeed. At the end of the War when the Kaiser's final fate was discovered, the movement was reorganized into a proper religion and took the Sankt Kaiser as a messiah figure to worship."

Those last words then registered in Olivie's mind. "Wait a second… you mean?"

"Yes, you are essentially God," said Carim in that calm tone and a smile worthy of a nun.

"… … huh…" A beat… and then a sigh. "I bet that somehow, Claus had a hand in making me like that…"

"Ingvalt did have some influence in the Church's first year. But in any case, now that you understand the history of the Church, you should also understand that as the current Saint Church Director… I, Carim Gracia, can confirm that the Guardian Knights serve the side of righteousness." It seemed that right now, the Saint Church Director had things under control which helped to calm down Hayate's nerves. Ever since that other woman had entered the office, Signum and Vita had been keeping a close eye on her. Their body language indicated a sense of tension, probably because of the accusations that had been thrown at them earlier.

"I want to believe you," started Olivie. "… but if you have seen what I have seen, then you would find it difficult to believe they can change so easily."

Hayate was the first to find her voice to break the silence that followed the other woman's words. "What did you see…?"

"I clearly remember an extremely stormy day on Shutra. A village that was close to the Northern border had sent out a request for help due to their dam being overwhelmed by the storm waters which started flooding the farm lands. A small garrison had been dispatched to provide some relief to the people. While on my way back from a war conference, I decided to make a detour to that village and lend whatever support I could give. The poor weather and the muddy roads that my steed had trouble going through had played a role in my late arrival to that village."

The Lieutenant Colonel blinked in surprise. "A steed? You couldn't just fly there?"

"Shutra's environment had an effect on the flow of magic. Flying on the planet expended more energy than it was worth so ground transportation was the norm there," explained Carim quickly to Hayate.

"When I got there, I found many corpses among the wrecked village. Men, women, children, and the Hegemon's soldiers… even all the village livestock. And among the wreckage, I saw a glimpse of the perpetrators that were up ahead before they teleported away. At that point, I knew who they were and when I saw the results of their mission with my own eyes, an angry fire burned in my heart." She paused before turning her glare towards Hayate's Knights. "Tell me… do you remember how many pages those lives were worth?"

"Every time we appear before a new master, we lose all our memories of the previous summoning," said Signum in her usual calm tone.

This caused the other woman to smile coldly. "How convenient. With no memory, you don't carry the burden of your original sins."

Vita growled and had to be restrained by her fellow Knight. "You damned…!"

"W-wait…! Those men were soldiers! They should know that wherever they get deployed that there's a risk of death! That's… that's what happens in a war zone!" Hayate had learned that lesson the hard way during the JS incident over a year and a half ago.

"Dying in the name of king and country is one thing. But to die a meaningless death for being in the wrong place at the wrong time while trying to aid disaster victims…" Her hands unconsciously formed fists as she trembled in frustration. "If I didn't try to seek retribution when their killers are in front of me, how can I face those men in the afterlife?"

"If your doubts plague you this badly, then I have no choice." In a flash, Signum summoned her sheathed Armed Device into her hand. "We shall settle this in traditional Belkan fashion: a trial by combat."

The other woman seemed pleased by that option. "My fists against your sword? I have no objection to that."

Hayate didn't like where this was going. "Why are you going through with this? Carim already explained-"

"If it is true in regards to this Knight living honestly and with compassion and warmth, then it will be reflected in her blade. After all, the true nature of a person can be found in battle." Olivie paused before chuckling bitterly. "Considering all the time that I spent in Shutra, I thought by now that I would be wise enough to think rationally and confirm the truth. And yet, I still rely on my fists to show me the way."

"… … then it can't be helped. Let us set some ground rules before you engage in your battle," said the Saint Church Director. "Hayate, please have Mr. Scrya meet us at Arena Four. I believe his barrier talents would be most useful in preventing excess damage."

"You're going along with this, Carim?"

"Considering that they're going to go through that trial by combat whether we like it or not …" A weary glance showed that both Signum and Olivie had inadvertently summoned a magical aura around their bodies in anticipation of battle. "It's best to try and keep things under control."

With both Carim and Hayate throwing their weight around thanks to their high military ranks, it wasn't too difficult to secure a location for the trial to take place. The combat training simulator that they got was roughly the same size as the arena where the Battle Tactics Symposium took place a while back. Considering the nature of one of the trial participants, security was tight with only a selected number of people cleared by Hayate to witness the event that would take place.

At the moment, everyone was assembled in the control room. Aside from the two participants in the trial, Hayate had summoned Yuuno and Shamal to lend their assistance as a Barrier Expert and as the Chief Medical Officer respectively. To say that they were surprised by Olivie's presence was an understatement but Hayate promised that she would explain things later to them so they kept quiet at the moment.

Shamal found being in this room a bit more unnerving, especially with the way that woman, who looked like a grown up version of Vivio, looked at her. Hopefully, this particular event wouldn't take too long and she can get back to her normal business.

"Contenders will start with visual contact 200 metres away from each other," began Hayate as she started laying down some ground rules. "The chosen battleground will be a basic open field so Yuuno-kun, if you please?"

"Sure." With the flick of the switch, the previously bare metal room changed into a grassy field complete with a blue sky and bright sun.

"You… recreated the land so easily? This is…" For a moment, Olivie looked like a kid who had witnessed the coolest thing ever.

He did his best to stay focused on Hayate and ignored the urge to start asking questions to the woman who resembled the last Sankt Kaiser. "I've finished setting up barriers around the simulator as well."

"Will these barriers hold properly?" asked Carim.

"Trust me; he's good with that sort of thing," said Hayate with a smile. "He kept damage to a minimum during that 5 on 5 Belka versus Mid battle when we were kids. Ah, those were good times!"

"I only remember passing out because of everyone going at maximum power without giving me a heads up," grumbled Yuuno.

"My hat got busted."

"At least your hat was still in one piece at the end, Vita," said Shamal as memories flooded back to her. "Mine got totally blown off! Although I did find it funny seeing some of Signum's hair stand up like that."

"I'm glad you found that amusing," replied Signum in a flat tone.

"Let's not get off track here! Anyways, how many rounds should there be? What will the time limit be per round?" Hayate snapped her fingers just as she remembered something else. "What about Life Points? Are we sticking with 3,000 per fighter? And we didn't even set spell damage parameters to calculate effects!"

"Why are you making it so complicated?" asked Olivie from her spot.

"Eh?"

"I don't exactly know all this Life Point stuff and how you compute damage calculation but back in my day, there are only two rules in a fair trial by combat. One is that it ends when the opponent surrenders or is completely incapacitated and two, no blows that are lethal in nature. There, that's it!"

"Uh…"

"That works for me," said Signum.

"… fine, we'll do it that way but Shamal will be on stand by for any serious injuries." Carim hoped that this would allow them to get things going. "If you two are ready, please step through the door to the field."

The two silently left the control room and made their way to their respective starting positions. On her end, Signum summoned her usual Knight Garments and her device, Laevatein. In a smooth motion, she withdrew the sword from the scabbard and waited for her opponent.

"Realize, _Ehrgeiz!_" The dress that Olivie wore vanished to allow the blue battle garments to settle around her body before silver metallic armour formed around her chest area and silver footwear covered her feet. Each arm had a gauntlet, made out of the same silver metallic material as the armour, phase in and wrap itself around the appendage with the length running from just above her elbows to the tips of her fingers. Her blonde hair was tied in a tight bun thanks to a rather large blue ribbon.

With her armour settled and in place, she got into her stance. Her left leg up, her left arm stretched out with the palm facing skywards while her right arm was bent back so that the back of her right palm hung near her face. "Sankt Kaiser, Olivie Segbrecht—attacks!"

Signum held up her blade just as her opponent charged at her with a burst of speed to rival that of Testarossa. "That is well. Knight of the Sword, Signum Yagami meets battle—!"

* * *

><p>One would think that the orientation session with their new combat instructor would go pretty easily. A simple breakdown of what they would learn over the next few weeks plus a light session to show off what abilities they had to their teacher.<p>

Instead, they were all subjected to a gruelling training session in a combat training simulator where their objective was to tag their teacher with whatever they had in order to end the exercise. It sounded simple enough. But considering said teacher was the infamous Ace of Aces, that task proved to be most difficult.

"Come on, this can't be all that you have!"

'That damned devil…' was the shared thought of most of the new students. With the amount of intense training that she often gave to her recruits, it was easy to see how she earned that other nickname of the White Devil. Unless they had a stroke of luck soon, she was going to work them to the ground for the next thirty minutes and pretty much leave them all exhausted.

Fortunately for them, Lady Luck did smile their way. Just as someone made a last ditch effort to use an attack spell, a tremor was felt through out the simulator for a brief moment. This caused the trajectory of the spell to shift just enough to graze the tip of one of her hairs.

"D-did we…?"

Nanoha gave a small smile as she made her descent and deactivated both Raising Heart and her Aggressive Mode Barrier Jacket. "I got tagged so today's exercise ends in your victory. And because you all did so well and gave it your hardest, I'll let you off early today!"

A tired but joyful cheer came from the students. "Thank you, Instructor!"

While they shuffled off the field to head for the showers, Nanoha sent a telepathic call to the building's administrative centre. _"Excuse me?" _

"_Yes, Captain Takamachi?" _

"_I felt a light tremor a few seconds ago in Combat Training Simulator A. Can you pinpoint where that might have originated?" _

"_Just a moment…"_ There was a pause until the operator got back to the Captain. _"That apparently came from Combat Training Simulator B."_

Nanoha's eyes widened as she realized that was right next door to her own simulator. _"Who's in there?" _

"_The only information I have here regarding that chamber is that a combat evaluation is being run there under the supervision of Major General Carim Gracia and Lieutenant Colonel Hayate Yagami. There's no further information such as who is participating in the exam." _

"_Thank you."_ Shutting off the telepathic connection, Nanoha stood in the middle of the chamber to collect her thoughts.

Were they people she knew? Maybe she could talk Hayate-chan into getting those powerhouse recruits into her class. After all, in order to create tremors that even she could feel from her spot must mean that there were very powerful combatants in that room going at it inside. It was exciting just wondering what powerful mages those new exam participants could turn out to be.

With that thought in mind, she swiftly headed towards the exit so she could try and catch the action. There was no way that she would let a chance like this to grab new students pass up!

* * *

><p>"It's hard to believe that second grade is almost over! We had so much fun over the school year," exclaimed Vivio as she headed to the school gates after the end of another school day at St. Hilde Academy of Magic.<p>

"That's true," replied Corona Timil who walked beside her. "Did you decide what you wanted to do?"

"Hm?"

"For your sorcery classes next year! I've gotten an idea of what I want to try but I wanted to know if you have something yet."

Vivio paused for a moment as she considered it. "I'm not sure what I want to do or what can I do. I want to try so many different things…" She trailed off as she saw her Saint Church escort for the day, a person with short brown hair and dressed in a butler uniform, waiting for her at the gate.

"Greetings, Your Majesty. Miss Corona."

Vivio's cheeks puffed out. "Isn't there anyway I can get you to stop calling me 'Your Majesty', Otto?"

"Unless another member of your bloodline appears, then no," replied the cross-dressing Number with a small smile.

"Then I wish someone like that could appear so that I can be a normal elementary school student!" shouted the young Takamachi with a fist pumped into the air for dramatic emphasis.

Otto carefully masked her amusement. "Are you done? We have to head back to your mother's office and it's going to be a long trip."

"Ah, yes! Mama's promised that we'll go out for dinner today after she finishes work!" Vivio went up ahead before waving goodbye to her friend. "I'll see you at school tomorrow, Corona!"

"Take care! See you tomorrow!"

* * *

><p>"So Mom's fighting someone right now?" asked Touma as he followed Subaru towards the Combat Training Simulator.<p>

"I really am sorry for letting things get out of hand," said the Corporal in apology. "I couldn't have imagined why she picked a fight with First Lieutenant Signum."

"This Signum… is she really strong?"

She nodded once as memories flew back of that graduation duel between the Forwards and their seniors. "Oh, yes. She's really good at dishing out a lot of damage and enduring anything that comes at her."

"Ah, cool. I'm glad that Mom's able to finally go all out on someone." Upon noticing the somewhat odd look from his escort, the boy went on to explain. "There's no way she would be able to get a proper workout if I'm her sparring partner. I'm not good enough yet."

'She's finally able to go all out? Just how strong is that woman…?' Subaru never really paid too much attention to history. All she remembered from her elementary school history lessons was that the Sankt Kaiser's strength had virtually no equal.

"Subaru?"

The familiar voice of her idol snapped Subaru out of her thoughts. "Nanoha-san? What are you doing here? I thought you were still with your class!"

"We finished early since they worked extra hard so I have a little bit of spare time on my hands and when I heard that Hayate-chan was running some sort of combat test in the Simulator next door, I wanted to take a look!" The tactical instructor then noticed the child. "Who's that boy with you?"

"Um… I'm Touma Avenir."

"Ooh, aren't you a cute one? I'm Nanoha Takamachi."

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Miss Takamachi," replied the boy politely.

Nanoha had to bury the urge to pinch his cheeks or ruffle his head and instead focused back on her former subordinate. "So where did he come from?"

"Administrated World 3: Vaizen. He's just moved to the city with his mother," answered Subaru.

"Where is she now?"

"She's in one of the Combat Training Simulators with-"

Now that caught Nanoha's attention very quickly. "She's one of the participants in Hayate-chan's combat test? How good is she?"

"She's gonna kick that Sig… that Siggy person's butt!" declared Touma proudly.

"So she's facing Signum?" Upon seeing Subaru nod in confirmation, the other woman lowered herself so that she was eye to eye with the boy's face. "Touma-kun, can you tell me how strong she is and how she fights?"

"Nanoha-san, what are you doing?"

"Nyahaha… there's nothing wrong with getting a little bit of information on a future student~!"

Subaru could only ponder just how those plans would change when Nanoha found out who the boy's mother really was.


	4. Tenryu Retsu Issen

'Power level has dropped back to 1.5 million points…'

If a stranger were to look at Yuuno Scrya right now, they would assume that all of his concentration was being used to maintain the barrier while the trial went on below. However, only a portion of his mind was staying focused on the barrier while the rest of his mental capacity was aimed at analyzing the data feedback.

'Her power spikes only when she goes on the attack. She's got good control over her body processes to maximize energy usage and efficiency.' He paused for a moment. 'Or perhaps it's her device that's doing that for her?'

It was just another question to add to the list. Honestly, there were way too many mysteries that surrounded this woman. Until he got a few things cleared up and a proper blood test to confirm her genetic identity, it was going to be difficult to answer the one question that burned on his mind… that probably burned on everyone's mind.

Was this woman the genuine Sankt Kaiser? Is she truly Olivie Segbrecht?

The immediate answer that would pop up in anyone's mind is a definite no. She was reported to have died during the end of the Unification Wars almost a century ago. So the most likely explanation, based on the fact that she's dead, was that she's one of the earlier clones born out of Project F. Given that the experiment had spanned for decades, it was the only explanation that made sense to allow her to grow up to this age naturally, master her abilities and her device, an actual authentic and unusual one from the time of Belka. But there was a problem with that theory.

When the Unification War ended, the Church's predecessor took possession of Olivie's personal items that survived the last climactic battle that claimed the Hegemon's home and most of his world. They had intended to look after the trinkets for safe keeping but somehow, those trinkets ended up playing a key part in forming the Church.

The essays that dictated how she perceived life and acceptable behaviour had served as their scriptures. An old garment with a sample of her blood served as a revered holy artifact until it was stolen in 0065. If one wanted to get a genetic sample of the last Kaiser, getting that shroud would be the only way to do it aside from looking through the Saint's Cradle itself (which would be a long and tedious task). When the Cradle had been destroyed in September of 0075 that meant that no more clones of the Kaiser's bloodline can be created as Vivio was safe in the care of the Bureau and the Church.

So the clone theory had a few holes. He accepted that and filed that away for further study while considering a new theory, based on the fact that she somehow survived the end of the War.

The last known witness to her whereabouts was Ingvalt if the memoirs were correct. He had tried to stop her from sacrificing herself to end the Cradle's rampage across worlds. Apparently, someone else had managed to put an end to things while something happened to Olivie that allowed her to live in this time, only a few years older than her last recorded appearance.

'Perhaps she had fought a battle and ended up in some sort of temporal suspension as a side effect of the magic used by her enemies?' It seemed a very plausible explanation although he would have thought that she would have been stuck on Shutra and lost forever in her frozen state.

"Hi, Yuuno-kun!"

"Hi, Nanoha," replied the Librarian automatically before going back to his theorizing and shielding tasks. 'Did someone move her frozen body to Vaizen where she eventually became free, found that orphan boy and became his guar-'

_Time out for a second. Stop with the theorizing and direct your sight towards your love interest/childhood friend who's pressing her face against the observation window._

Yuuno's subconscious finally got him out of his deep academic state of mind and back to reality. "Nanoha, what are you doing here?"

"Heard about this combat test going on from Subaru and Touma-kun and we all came here together to observe!" She hummed in delight as she felt the light vibrations on her skin from the glass. "They must be giving it maximum effort in there and having a lot of fun!"

'_Hayate, when was she allowed in? And are you sure this is something she should know about immediately? She's going to want answers that we can't give right now!' _

'_I know that,'_ was the tired telepathic answer that came from the Lieutenant Colonel. _'But considering who's really in there and how gossip can spread like wildfire on the base, I figure it's best to get her in the loop now.' _

'_I guess you have a point…'_ He could only imagine what kind of insanity could have come up all due to misunderstandings on Nanoha's part.

Speaking of Nanoha, she turned around to face Hayate. "So where is this person who's fighting Signum? And can I get next fight afterwards?"

"You're gonna get your butt kicked. Nothing personal though," said Touma.

"Touma, don't say stuff like that!" Subaru laughed nervously as all other eyes turned towards him for a moment.

Nanoha's smile still remained on her face. "Well, I won't lose easily! I have a few tricks up my sleeve too. Now, can I get a turn in later?"

"O-oi! Just what are you thinking, you dummy?" exclaimed Vita.

"Ah, I see. You saw that fighter first so you want dibs. Am I right, Vita-chan?"

The Knight of the Iron Hammer just twitched at the other woman's behaviour. "Good grief, you're such a kid! Stop getting the wrong idea!"

"Nyahaha…" The vibrations on the glass stopped as the combatants down below broke apart after their latest clash. It also allowed for Nanoha to get a good look at who was facing Signum while there was a lull in the fighting.

The Knight herself was on the left side, the shoulder sections of her outer Knight's clothing rather tattered. She was breathing a bit harder than usual, most likely due to just how strong her opponent was.

And on the right… was a blue clad woman in an armour set and blue garments. The blue fabric was singed, probably a result of this warrior blocking Signum's flames earlier. She took her time in catching her breath as well while her mismatched eyes kept focused on the enemy ahead.

Those mismatched eyes that were very familiar to Nanoha by now as she felt herself go pale. "That's…!"

"Before you jump to any conclusions Nanoha-san, please make sure you understand this key fact," said Carim calmly. "That is not your daughter down there. Otto had contacted me earlier, confirming that she has picked up your child and is on her way here."

"Then what…?"

Hayate struggled for a quick explanation of the woman's identity. "If anything, I guess we can call her Vivio's biological mom?"

Nanoha just stared. "… …"

"It is technically true," said Yuuno to break the awkward silence. "Honestly, with the feedback of combat data I've been getting, it feels like the theory of her being the original Olivie Segbrecht is gaining a bit more weight. Speed, reaction time, attack pattern strategy… all that could only be developed through many years of training."

While that sank into the heads of the others, Touma voiced a different question. "Wait a sec… now I have a sister too?"

"If you're the son of Her Majesty, then I guess she would count as your sister." Carim paused for a moment. "Or would she be like an Aunt?"

"Huh?"

"It's… complicated. But we'll explain everything to you and your mother once Vivio gets here," promised the Saint Church Director. Hopefully by the time they were ready for that conversation, she could figure out just where those three stood in the Belkan Imperial Family Hierarchy and explain things accordingly.

"Subaru, you already knew the identity Touma-kun's mother, correct? Why didn't you tell me?" asked Nanoha.

"It's not like I can work it into a regular conversation," mumbled Subaru in defense before switching her tone to a fake uppity one. "Hi, Nanoha-san! How's it going? By the way, did you know that this boy's mother looks exactly like a grown up version of Vivio?"

"You could have said something!"

Upon seeing Nanoha try to figure out if she should be angry or disappointed, Subaru decided it was time to switch the subject to something else since this one was making her feel a bit uncomfortable. "Ah… so how is Signum-san doing anyway? I mean… if Olivie-san's the real deal, then…"

"She's been certainly demonstrating her capabilities as a warrior. Analysis, prediction, reaction are all top notch. But what I find a bit strange is that even with all those precise high pressure attack strings, she hasn't been able to properly break Signum's guard and force an opening." Yuuno paused for a moment. "And then there were some odd instances with Signum's movements at times."

"What do you mean?" asked Hayate.

"I'm not entirely certain but… here." The blonde man summoned a monitor and brought up some earlier footage of the duel in which showed Olivie scattering high and low attacks to confuse Signum's guard stance. "Maybe someone with a keen eye for magical combat can help pinpoint where I'm getting at."

All eyes briefly turned to Nanoha who managed to snap out of her earlier funk. "Sure, I guess I can help." A few moments passed as she digested the footage of Olivie's next set of attacks. "My word… that woman must have a lot of muscle power in order to maintain that momentum after doing a quad feint!"

"Stay focused please."

"Sorry, Carim…" Nanoha turned back to the video replay and spotted what Yuuno had meant. In the middle of Olivie's rushdown, Signum seemed to lose balance but before her opponent could capitalize, the Knight stabbed her sword in the ground and had her device load a cartridge to create a makeshift flame barrier. "I think I see it. That last defensive movement used by Signum… the execution was shaky. Because it didn't have her usual sense of grace and control, I have to conclude that it wasn't done consciously."

"So she pulled that off by pure instinct? How come I don't remember seeing that move in her arsenal when we sparred?" asked Vita.

"Well, she hasn't faced a pure Belkan style opponent with an aggressive combat style like this. Even when she sparred with Sister Schach and other Church Knights, they tended to favour a more defensive style," said Carim as she offered up her own explanation. "And while Vita is certainly not lacking in aggression, she tends to focus on power instead of speed and unpredictability."

"Mom can do all that easy! She's smart and powerful and fast and stuff!" exclaimed Touma.

"And because of that powerful combat style awakening her instincts…"

Hayate picked up on where Carim was leading. "That means Signum's able to stay in the fight and avoid being overwhelmed?"

"It's all learned reflexes," said Shamal as everyone turned to her. "Muscle memory to be precise. Repeat an action and practice it enough and your body remembers how to do it without your brain telling it to."

"Like how Mariel-san can disassemble and reassemble the main body of any low grade Device blindfolded?" asked Nanoha.

The Lady of the Lake nodded. "That's a good example. Or take my case. I don't recall any memories of my life before meeting Hayate but when I was awakened by her and saw her in the wheelchair, the first thoughts that came to my mind were surgical options on how to fix her condition."

Subaru was surprised to hear such a thing as it was one of the rare times any one of the four Belkan Knights actually spoke about some of their history. Then a disturbing thought came to her. "If Signum-san's body has those types of instincts, then she must have lived a life of endless battle before meeting Hayate-san, correct?"

"You have no idea," muttered Vita.

* * *

><p>'So this is the strength of the Kaiser… with all that power coming down on me, somehow I'm still in one piece…'<p>

Once in a while, when fragments of her old life surfaced, Signum would remember some of the stories that she had heard about the Kaiser. About how they were the essence of Belkan combat arts given flesh, fighters who obtained the delicate balance of grace, speed and power.

As she found out for herself, those stories were certainly true. Olivie's focused and powerful movements were controlled tightly to maximize usage of energy. Honestly, there were times when Signum knew that her guard could have been broken but apparently; the fates were smiling upon her today by letting her body's memory remember some defensive techniques that she had probably developed during one of her past incarnations.

Both combatants took their time to catch their breath and revise their combat strategy. For Signum, she went through what options she had available against an opponent of this calibre while using this precious reprieve to put in some new cartridges.

_Bogenform_ was obviously out. The set up time would be too long and Olivie would undoubtedly be in her face before she managed to get an arrow off.

_Schlangeform_ seemed a bit more feasible but that would mean remaining stationery and relying purely on Laevatein's ability to strike with that form. Would it be able to match up with her opponent's speed? Or maybe… that woman would be crazy enough to try and strike the device in its extended form with her fists and damage it.

Yes… she would try such a thing. The Kaiser's reaction time was beyond what the Knight had expected when she tried to counterattack earlier (although to be honest, Signum's gut feeling told her that those mismatched eyes played some role in that). And with her strength, she could possibly cause some serious damage since Laevatein would enter Olivie's attack range and be open for a powerful blow. If she was going to use that form, she would have to be certain that it can definitely land the blow that would finish the fight in her favour.

In the meantime, she would stick with her old reliable strategy of getting up close, waiting for her chance and striking the enemy as much as she could with _Schwertform_. It would take a lot of time but that was fine with the Knight of the Sword.

As powerful as that young woman is, she didn't seem to have a lot of patience (most likely an attribute of her youth). In her last offensive, she appeared to be taking a few more risks to force an opening in Signum's guard. If Signum kept her guard up properly, Olivie's lack of success would cause her to take larger risks. And that would give the General of the Raging Fire that small window of opportunity to strike.

Speaking of Olivie, she seemed to be ready again as she planted her feet firmly into the dirt while concentrating on channelling energy into her right hand.

"_Meine Hand leuchtet mit ehrfürchtiger Kraft...! "_

While she began to chant, a rainbow Belkan triangle formed under her feet and that hand of hers began glowing red.

"_Mit dieser brennenden Attacke werde ich dich besiegen! "_

Signum's eyes narrowed as the nature of that attack was made clear in her mind. Olivie intended to use that high risk, high reward technique that would end this battle. Now the question is how exactly would she execute it? Depending on the answer to that, it would affect the timing of her counterattack.

But the fact that she chose to use that type of move even when she had a lot of different options said something about her. That woman wanted to get her answer quickly, one way or the other.

"If that's how you wish to finish it, that's fine by me." Signum dug her feet into the ground, one hand secured around the handle of her sword and the other hand holding the sheath in a defensive posture. "Abandon your hesitation. Shatter the doubts that plague you… and show me the answer that you have found, Sankt Kaiser!"

And Olivie transformed into a blur, only to reappear within striking range before thrusting her palm forward.

"_Die ultimativen_… SHINING FINGAAAAAAA!"

It felt like all time stopped for a second the moment Signum saw Olivie phase back into her vision, right within striking distance. Even with the high speed approach of the technique, the earlier posture that the Kaiser had taken indicated that she would go for a direct strike.

In a sense, the Knight felt that she shouldn't be too surprised that her opponent would choose that type of finishing move to wager the outcome. The woman seemed to be simple, direct and honest. It was reflected by her choice of finishing technique.

Since Olivie chose her move to bet on to decide the outcome of the fight. Signum would have to respond in kind. And she knew just the move to do it. It was a technique that she had developed when serving a previous master which recently resurfaced in her memory, thanks to the intensity of this battle. Whether or not she would be able to execute the technique properly for maximum damage is another question. There would be a sheer amount of stress on both her body and device to achieve the attack's optimal momentum and she would need to sacrifice her device's sheath in order to bait her opponent.

But it was her only chance for victory.

As Olivie's glowing red hand shot forward, Signum drew her sword and moved to have the sheath intercept the blow. Just as expected, the glowing red gauntlet was breaking through the sheath's dense material fairly quickly but the attack speed stayed within her earlier estimates.

Now in order to get the best possible starting position for her technique, she would need to cast her initial spell to give her the ideal opening. That meant the gauntlet had to make contact at a specific point on her upper garment. Since the hand trajectory stayed steady, focused and did not deviate from the target, it made planning her next steps easier.

The weight carried in her left hand felt lighter which meant the sheath has been destroyed and the red gauntlet was on its way. With that in mind, she prepared to move in three…

Two…

One…

"_Reaktor Säuberung."_

Just as one of Olivie's fingertips brushed the fabric, the jacket detonated. All of the Kaiser's senses from sight to smell were thrown off temporarily as the magic that had been used by Signum ran its course. Uncertain of what exactly happened, Olivie chose to back off and put some distance between her and the explosion of magic that just happened a second ago. "What was that?"

"Just a new trick learned by an Old Knight," said her opponent from within the explosion before she darted forward to close the gap in distance and go for her counterattack. Already, the sword had consumed one cartridge and was covered in flames.

"_Ätherbarriere!"_ For the first time in the duel, it was Olivie's turn to be on the defensive as she cast a defence spell, a variation of _Panzerschild_ which had an additional defensive layer to back up the primary shield.

Something as simple as that would not bother Signum. With the opening slash, the first defensive layer was shattered easily. _**"TENRYU…"**_

'Reinforcing second layer!' Olivie poured whatever mana she could generate on such a quick notice in an attempt to protect herself but the momentum of the match had turned in favour of her opponent as the sword consumed a second cartridge to increase the intensity of the flames.

"… _**RETSU…"**_

'… …!' The second slash cut through the reinforced shield like a hot knife through butter, leaving the Kaiser in a poor position to defend herself. And to make things worse, Signum had just loaded her last cartridge into Laevatein, transforming it into a living inferno before it descended for the final blow.

"… … _**ISSEN!"**_

* * *

><p>Hayate had a look of surprise on her face. "Where did she pull that move from?"<p>

"I dunno but that attack nailed her! There's no way she could get up from that!" Seeing that woman get smacked down by Signum filled Vita with glee.

"We won't know for sure until the flames and the dust settle down so that the cameras can capture the images clearly," commented Carim.

"Still doesn't change the fact that she's toast!"

Touma didn't like the way that little girl was talking. "No way! Mom's tougher than that!"

"Are you blind or something, kid?" snapped Vita. "You saw the second slash break her guard and the third slash went through! She lost that fight!"

"No, she didn't!"

"Yes, she did!"

"She didn't!"

"She did!"

"Vita-chan's… really into arguing with Touma-kun, huh?" said Nanoha with a little laugh.

"I'm not arguing!" The small Knight crossed her arms. "I'm just trying to get the last word in. And the last word is that your mom got beaten!"

"She didn't get beaten! She didn't even activate her Super Mode!" complained Touma.

"S-super mode?" Olivie had already proven to be ridiculously strong but the idea of her reaching a higher level of power was mind boggling to Subaru. "What super mode?"

"Can it be…?" Yuuno gave it some thought as he searched his memory for whatever information he could recall about the Sankt Kaiser. It only took him a few seconds to come to a conclusion. "Her bloodline…"

"Eh?"

He glanced at the young corporal. "If Olivie is truly who she claims to be, then the power of her bloodline will manifest itself."

As the dust cleared, they could see the standing figure of Olivie Segbrecht. Her rainbow aura was surrounding her body while the blue garments of her armour had changed colour to red. And there wasn't any sign that Signum's last attack had done any significant damage.

Even if it looked a bit different from how Vivio had used it on the Cradle, Nanoha could still recognize that power. "The defensive fixed skill: Saint's Armour."

"Not only that. The computer readings have picked up the activation of a Relic inside the Combat Simulator. Origin… seems to be from that young lady's Linker Core." On cue, the camera zoomed in on Olivie's face, which remained neutral and focused on her opponent.

'Signum…' Hayate was clearly worried about how this would all turn out as were the rest of the occupants in the room.

Except for a certain young boy. "I told you that my mom wouldn't lose!"

"Touma!"


	5. My Mom Can Beat Up Your Mom

'So she did have one more card up her sleeve.' Somehow Signum wasn't surprised although she was a little bothered that her earlier assessment of Olivie turned out different than expected. Even as open and honest as she is, she's still capable of concealing certain aspects of her power from the enemy until it's too late. Then again, that's basic common sense when it came to battle.

No use complaining about it. All she could do was weather the Kaiser's storm with what strength she had left. Right now, her defensive fields were lowered thanks to sacrificing a part of her armour earlier to create the opening. She had no more cartridges on her and even if she did, she wouldn't be able to use them right away until Laevatein had a chance to recover from the stress of their earlier technique.

But the last thing the Knight of the Sword had been expecting was Olivie asking for forgiveness. "My apologies. This result was due to my lack of training."

"... what?"

"I wanted to have a fair battle," explained Olivie. "Unfortunately, when your last attack broke your my shield, the Saint's Armour naturally activated in response to my heightened emotional state."

"I see. That's quite considerate of you to explain yourself but that's not necessary right now." She slowly got into position.

"But-"

"That's enough. I appreciate that you have attempted to carry out this trial fairly. But make no mistake..." Signum pointed her blade at the Kaiser. "Even with your Saint's Armour protecting you, I will show you beyond a reasonable doubt that we are not the ruthless Knights that you believe us to be."

"That won't be necessary. As far as I'm concerned, this trial has concluded," said Olivie calmly before turning towards the observation window and waving a free hand. "We're done in here!"

"That's… it?" She was quite stunned by her opponent's change in attitude to the point where she didn't even notice the chamber doors opening. "The rules said the trial would end when someone is incapacitated or surrenders."

"That's true. Hmmmm…" It then came to the young woman. "Since I'm not in the habit of beating on someone who's clearly in a weakened state, I surrender."

For some reason, that got under Signum's nerves. "Don't mock me! Are you even taking me seriously?"

"So you really prefer to be beaten into a pulp?" asked the puzzled Kaiser.

"No, she doesn't!" shouted a flustered Hayate as she managed to make her way over with everyone else. "Signum, if she's okay with stopping things here, then let it go!"

"But… it just feels like this didn't end properly," said the Knight of the Sword quietly before turning back to the other woman. "How is it that you were able to find what you were looking for?"

"During your last technique, I sensed your emotions. Love for your Master, anger at my accusations and regret for the lives that were taken to fuel the Book. That is proof enough for me to conclude that the killing machines I saw on that day no longer exist. And you have fulfilled your objective as well which was to prove that you are not the cold Knights who have spilled blood in the name of their Master." The Kaiser paused for a moment. "I wonder if this will be good enough for those restless spirits. If they see that you're trying to live your lives by a proper code of chivalry and make up for the crimes of old, perhaps they can rest in peace."

"Signum, if you're finished, then can you come back with me to the control room so I can properly check you over for injuries?" asked Shamal.

"Yes, of course." Before she could be led away, she turned back to Olivie. "If possible, I would like a rematch so that a proper conclusion can be reached. I have something that I want to try against that Saint's Armour of yours."

Vita put it together. "You can't mean… Agito?"

"Yes. I would like to put my Unisoned form to the limit. That is, if you have no objections."

"You have a Unison Device too? I haven't seen one of those in years. If time permits, I would be happy to fight you again." Olivie had to admit that it would be interesting to throw down with a fighter using one of those devices.

"You don't seem mad at her anymore, Mom. Are you now friends with her?" asked Touma while Shamal led Signum away with Vita following.

"I wouldn't say we're friends now but if anything, I understand her and her comrades a bit better. Maybe in the future, I wouldn't mind having those Knights as friends." She then shot the boy a bright smile. "But right now, you're the best friend that I want by my side."

He liked hearing that. And more importantly, he liked seeing how that smile she had on her face was directed at him and only for him. But…

"_If anything, I guess we can call her Vivio's biological mom?"_

What if her real child took away that attention he was getting?

A concerned look settled upon the Kaiser's fair features as she noticed her adopted son looking a little distracted. "Touma, what's wrong?"

"Nothing…! Just thinking of stuff."

"You shouldn't hide what's bothering you, young man. Otherwise, Nanoha-chan here would blast you until you started talking about your feelings properly," said Hayate in a teasing manner.

This earned a twitch from Olivie. "Excuse me?"

"Geh…!" Why did Hayate-chan have to say that? And in front of the Sankt Kaiser of all people!

The sudden awkward gesture from Nanoha immediately drew Olivie's attention towards her. "From the way you're reacting, you must be this… Nanatoka!"

"It's Nanoha!"

"Whatever. The point is you can't always force someone to talk about their feelings. Sometimes there are personal things that they can't share. Maybe he has one of those… manly issues that can only be talked about between men." She paused for a moment before noticing a young man in a green suit next to Carim who was furiously taking notes. "You there… you can talk manly issues with my son, can't you?"

"I… guess?" Yuuno was getting rather confused at all this.

She smiled in approval. "Good, then that's settled."

Touma decided that he better step in and set things straight. "Mom, it's not that sort of stuff that's bugging me!"

"Then what is it, sweetie?"

"Well… apparently, I have a sister since they said stuff about you being her biological mom."

"… … SAY WHAT?"

Carim put away her writing momentarily to clear up this new misunderstanding. "It's a bit more complicated than that."

"How so?" asked Olivie who was now paying full attention. "Is she something like a doppelganger?"

The way the Kaiser said that last word had Carim slightly on edge. Belkan myths often painted doppelgangers in a poor light, seen as harbingers of ill fortune and representatives of the forces of evil. Superstition had a place among the Royal Family once. And she wasn't sure if Olivie was among those who placed a high value on those things.

Well, best to go with a truth she could understand. "Not precisely. The story begins with a blood sample that was obtained by a mad scientist over ten years ago after stealing a shroud that we had guarded in our church."

"A shroud…?" She wasn't sure what the Church Director meant until a thought finally came to mind. 'Ingvalt's old cape?'

"It was your only personal belonging that had been recovered after the war next to your journals," explained the Saint Church director. "And the shroud played a part in his plan to conquer this world."

"So he wanted to conquer the world with a bloody cloth?" For some reason, Touma had the image of a man clad in a white lab coat and brandishing the shroud with blood like an all powerful super weapon.

"Er… that's not quite it," confessed Hayate. "That man was involved in an illegal project that focused on creating copies of people."

"And what he wanted was to create a copy of someone from the Kaiser's bloodline since at the time; there were no known living members of the Royal Family. In this case, he created Vivio who's essentially a genetic copy of Her Majesty here," continued Carim.

"A copy of me?" The concept seemed rather out of this world to Olivie but then again, she had been thrown nearly a century forward in time so who was she to judge? But there was still something she was missing.

While there was no doubt that the Saint Kings were powerful living warriors, she was certain that this world had more than enough competent mages to stop a renegade Kaiser. So what was the last factor? What other reason would there be a need for a Kaiser to help in world domination?

Then it hit her. "The Saint's Cradle…?"

The Saint Church Director nodded. "That's right. He had managed to locate that Lost Logia and needed a key to activate it."

"Then… instead of properly seeing the Cradle's destruction to the end, I…" A sense of horror grew inside the young woman's heart.

"Um, if I may ask… what was your last memory about the Cradle?" asked Yuuno with his curiosity now at its peak.

"The Cradle didn't include a proper self-destruct mechanism since it was a warship that predated Belka. The only thing we could do was to steer it towards a natural phenomenon in space where it could stay lost forever. Something like a black hole," said Olivie as she remembered what she had planned on that day before her sudden trip through time. "My father had managed to program a random course that couldn't be overridden until the ship got to its destination but he succumbed to his injuries that he got from the insurgency of the Radicals. I had planned to reach the Cradle and ensure that the ship would stay lost but things… went rather differently. And because I wasn't strong enough, someone else suffered as the Cradle's Key."

"You are not to blame, Your Majesty. At the time, we didn't realize the child's true identity until after the Cradle began its ascension. It is we who bears the responsibility of making up for our negligence," said Carim.

"What is she like? This Vivio girl?" asked the Kaiser.

"She's a good girl although it takes her a while to eat all of her vegetables at dinner time," replied Nanoha. Yes, Vivio may have managed to accept green peppers as part of her diet but she's still a bit picky about eating other vegetables like broccoli and brussel sprouts.

"Is she cared for? Is she happy and safe?"

Yuuno nodded. "Yes she is. Nanoha-san here is the girl's adopted mother."

The sudden revelation caused most of Olivie's attention to focus right on the Ace of Aces. "You?"

"Yes. Do you have a problem with me continuing to care for Vivio?" She had to admit that the moment when she learned the true identity of that woman, the thought of her child leaving her to live with her true biological parent passed through her mind. And it scared her a bit.

"No. Because I wasn't there for her… because I couldn't save her from the fate of being the Cradle's Key, I don't have the right to make those kinds of choices," replied Olivie quietly.

"Even though it's beyond dispute that you share the same blood as her?" pressed Carim.

"If she doesn't want anything to do with me, I can accept that. But before I can step out quietly, I want to make sure she will be properly looked after. Who's in charge of her security?"

It was a bit surprising to see her change from a self-hatred emotional state to a commanding presence. Then again, this is the Kaiser herself. And plus the fact that she's now a parent meant she had to continue projecting that sense of confidence properly in front of her son.

"Uh, I don't think we have a full security detail in place but if I were to guess, it would be Nanoha-san who looks after that," said Subaru.

"So you're saying that Ms. Nanoka here is capable of protecting the child?"

"It's Nanoha, Your Majesty," corrected Carim. "And she is one of the strongest mages on this world."

"Is that so?" After some thought, Olivie glanced at the Ace of Aces. "I'm going to put that to the test. Start warming up."

"… … Eh?"

* * *

><p>Vivio has probably seen these sights dozens and dozens of times every time she took the public transit system to travel between school and her mama's workplace. The sights of the landmarks that gave the regions of Mid-Childa their unique charm along with the two moons in the sky never ceased to amaze her.<p>

"**Now approaching Central Zone One Station."**

The announcement from the train's speakers caught Otto's attention. "Our stop is coming soon, Your Majesty."

"I know. And stop calling me that!"

Once the two made it to their stop, their next destination was to the TSAB Mid-Childan Main Office to meet up with Nanoha, which was only a brief walk from the train station. The time was about right for her to finish up with her classes for the day. But when they reached the designated meeting spot, Nanoha wasn't there. "Perhaps her classes are taking a bit longer than expected?"

"Can you use telepathy to get to her?"

Otto mildly noted that the young lady's vocabulary has been improving. As expected from a student going through the magic curriculum at St. Hilde Academy. "She may be in the middle of something. Let's speak with the receptionist to see if they can track her down."

"Okay!"

A few moments later, they were at the front desk while the receptionist checked for the current location of Ms. Takamachi. "Let's see… Captain Takamachi is currently at Combat Training Simulator B."

"Did she change her classroom location?" asked Otto.

"Actually, no. From what I remember, her class finished a bit earlier than usual. I saw some of her students pass by here on their way to the showers about twenty to thirty minutes ago."

"So, she probably is helping evaluate someone's combat performance and simply forgot the time?" That made sense since as far as the Number knew, the Captain had a bit of a bad habit getting so involved in her work that she loses track of time.

"Most likely. I can't say for sure."

"Thank you for your help!" chirped Vivio before she followed her escort to the Combat Training Simulator.

* * *

><p>'Hmmm… she's pretty good.' It was the only thought Olivie had while moving around the arena to stay one step ahead of the barrage of projectiles fired from her opponent. She wondered if all practitioners of this Mid-Childan magic style were capable of this type of flexibility.<p>

She also noted how those gold floating… thingies seemed to add to the number of shots that were released by that Nanoha (yes, she got that silly name right!). With those around, it meant that her offensive and defensive abilities were enhanced. Getting in wasn't going to be easy.

And speaking of getting in, her earlier theory of her opponent not being very proficient in close quarters combat was somewhat disproven. That woman used a combination of shielding spells and binds whenever Olivie closed the gap so that she could maintain the distance that she wanted in order to make the most out of her shooting spells. It didn't take long for the Kaiser to realize that controlling combat space was the idea behind Nanoha's style.

She had spaced herself carefully in order to be in an ideal position to respond to or punish any entry angle or attack used by Olivie. By shutting down the Kaiser's offensive options and thinking several steps ahead, she can control the flow of the fight. Her knowledge of Olivie's style (probably picked up from her observing the earlier battle with Signum) also played a factor in her zoning strategy.

Of course, the effectiveness of such a strategy depended on how well Nanoha could predict Olivie's moves. The thought of using some other attacks to bait her opponent crossed the Captain's mind but in the end, she decided to stick with her cautious approach. After all, she didn't know the full extent of Olivie's moves and as she was apparently a seasoned warrior who has full mastery over her style, Nanoha knew that this would be far different compared to fighting Vivio in her Kaiser form on the Cradle.

A telepathic call from the Kaiser interrupted her train of thought. _"A quick question, Ms. Nanoha…"_

'S-she got my name right!' A part of her wanted to cry tears of joy that an opponent actually managed to get her name right fairly quickly instead of over several battles like with Vita-chan. _"Er, yes… Olivie-san?"_

"_Would you terribly mind if I put an end to this?"_ The sudden question was accompanied by a sudden spike in power from the Kaiser's side along with her rainbow aura coming out in full force.

'So she's done playing around?' Obviously, Nanoha had recognized that Olivie took her time in order to study and understand her opponent's style before beginning her counterattack. She still had a few aces to play but whether her opponent would allow her to use them is another story. So her best shot… was to hit her before she got a chance to pull off whatever she's doing. Without wasting a moment, she had Raising Heart load up whatever remaining cartridges that were left in her magazine while the Blaster Bits flew back to her to reinforce the shot. "Blaster Three…!"

"_Die du die Ewigkeit durchstreifst, in unserer Seele schlummernde Kraft, Kraft aus der Grenzenlosigkeit, komm und richte!"_ The rainbow aura that surrounded her body slowly shrunk before a fairly lengthy strand made out of her magical energy formed around her right gauntlet which held on to one end. _"Prismatische Stränge..."_

"DIIIVINNNE BUSTAAAHHH!" The powered up magical shot left the tip of Raising Heart just as Olivie pulled back the strand and swung it forward while the rainbow magical aura extended in both length and width so that it would clash with Nanoha's attack.

"_Seelenspiegelung!"_

"Keh…!" Sweat rolled down Yuuno's face as he kept up his energy to maintain the simulator's shielding but the last shockwave of those two spells hitting each other taxed his shields quite a fair bit.

"She can't be…?" Hayate couldn't believe her eyes at the sight as the rainbow strands bent backwards so it could catch the magical energy fired by her friend. "She's catching the Divine Buster?"

"No… she's reflecting it!" Subaru saw Nanoha hustle to get out of the way after seeing her own Divine Buster coming back at her.

"Ah, there's everybody!" They all turned towards the source of the young girl's voice which came from the entrance into the control room from the outside. While her butler escort greeted Carim with a proper bow, the small girl came up to Hayate, who had not been expecting Vivio here. "Where's mama?"

Touma was the first to answer, while noting how much that little girl looked like his own mother. "To put it simply… my mom's totally kicking your mom's butt."

"TOUMA!"

* * *

><p>While Nanoha barely got out of the way of that last attack, she noted that the technique Olivie used was similar to what Vivio did on the Cradle. During their battle, her daughter often created magical projections and orbs out of her own aura before firing them at her. Olivie here was on a whole new level.<p>

The Kaiser's aura manipulation ability allowed her to summon forth that strand that acted as a powerful reflective shield to send Divine Buster right back at her. Who knew what else she could do with it?

"Come forth, my elementals! _Kugelblitz_ and _Umpflüger!_"

'She can summon too?' While that thought ran through her head, two magical elementals formed right behind the Kaiser. One had a red face appearing inside white magical energy while a brown looking apparition that appeared to be made out of roots and surrounded with green energy made up the other form. With a single gesture, the two of them charged at Nanoha mercilessly.

"Axel Shooter!" She countered with a barrage of magical shots but her opponent moved, using the rainbow strand as a whip to bat the shots away, sending several of them back at the Blaster Bits and forcing them to dissipate into thin air. As the two elementals approached, Raising Heart went into action, automatically activating a Round Shield.

They slammed hard into it, pushing her a great distance towards one end of the arena before coming to a halt and fading away from the field. From what Nanoha could tell, they only had a limited amount of magical energy and once that ran out, they vanished into nothing.

But that didn't seem to bother Olivie at all. _"Flügellähmung."_

Red binds shot out from the ground, wrapping themselves around the white clad woman before she was forced to land. Once her feet touched the ground, the pink energy wings around her shoes vanished, a sign that her flying spell had been forcefully deactivated. While Nanoha tried to think of a counter, she saw Olivie ahead, using both hands to raise her rainbow strand which had straightened out and extended itself in length like a sword.

She could think of counters later. Right now, she just had to survive this attack. "Multiple Defenser!"

As the multiple shields took their place, the Kaiser swung down with all her might. _"Explodierande Diamantfaust!"_


	6. Kaiser Meets Little Kaiser

The control room shook lightly from the shockwave that resulted from the impact of the last spell used by the Kaiser hitting against Nanoha's shields.

"Mr. Scrya, are you alright?" asked Carim. Considering that they indeed felt a little something thanks to the fight in the simulator, it meant that his barriers had weakened a bit. Then again, he had been maintaining them for two straight brawls between powered mages.

"Y-yeah… just gotta maintain my concentration," muttered the Librarian. He had hoped that none of his barriers were compromised during the last exchange of blows although he wasn't totally sure since his mind had been rather drained running the numbers to keep the barriers up and running.

"Wait… where did Mom Junior go?"

"Mom Junior?" Subaru thought about that for a moment before she figured out what he meant. 'Ah, Touma meant Vivio… wait a minute!'

A quick scan of the room did indeed prove that the girl was no longer among them which got Hayate sweating. "Vivio?! Where did you go?!"

"I believe Her Majesty went into the battlefield. As you can see, the chamber door seal had been damaged, most likely as a result from Mr. Scrya's inability to maintain the barrier during the last clash," noted Otto. "It's likely that she slipped through to reach her mother."

"Let's just go get her back before she gets hurt in the crossfire! Get in touch with the combatants and get them to pause their match!"

* * *

><p>'I'm… still conscious?' Nanoha had been expecting that last attack from the Kaiser to knock her out since it didn't have any problem smashing through the Multiple Defenser but perhaps her opponent pulled her blow at the last moment. For what reason, she couldn't tell but since she had a chance now, she might as well do a quick situation assessment.<p>

Low on magical energy? Check.

Bind spell still in effect? Nope. At least she could fly again but with the above fact in place, that could be an issue.

Barrier jacket damage? Fairly extensive with her eyes spotting several rips and tears on the magical cloth.

"Raising… Heart?"

**"I can still fight, my Master."**

That's good. The question was whether her body would be prepared to head back into battle. Although she had come a long way in her recovery from the JS Incident, she wasn't able to go at maximum power as frequently as she used to. Perhaps she should take some time off to rest her wings but that will have to wait. The more immediate concern was the approaching Olivie who took her time while walking towards her.

"_Nanoha, can you hear me?! Nanoha!"_ She could hear Hayate's voice in her mind and she sounded really panicked.

"_What is it?"_

"_You have to stop your match right now! Vivio's gotten into the combat simulator!"_

Hayate's warning came a little bit late as Nanoha's ears picked up the sound of tiny footsteps approaching rapidly. "DON'T BULLY MY MAMA!"

"Vivio?!" Nanoha realized with horror that her child had somehow gotten into the arena and placed herself in danger. "No, get out of here!"

But the little girl didn't listen. As soon as she reached the red clad armoured woman, she started kicking at the legs since that was as high as she could reach with her own. "Take this! And this!"

For a few moments, the only sound that was in the arena came from a foot making contact with magical armour repeatedly. Olivie's expression remained unchanged so that meant nobody could tell what she was thinking. Not Carim… not Hayate… not even her son.

Finally, after a few seconds of staring at the little girl kick her, Olivie finally spoke. "You're doing it wrong."

That caused Vivio to stop. "… … eh?"

"Get into your stance and have your dominant leg behind your other leg." Olivie moved so that she would be able to help Vivio fix her stance. "The dominant leg's toe should be pointed to its side while your secondary leg is in front, its toe pointed straight forward. You want your torso to generally face the direction of your dominant leg. Your hands can be in a guard position or relaxed."

"… …" Who is this lady… and why did she look so much like…?

"Are you listening, young lady?"

"Uh, yes!" The smaller girl snapped to attention and moved her right leg back as instructed.

"If you want to go for speed, you will use your front foot. If you want a more powerful kick, use your back leg." After letting this fact settle in with the child, Olivie continued. "Raise your kicking-leg's knee so your thigh is parallel to the ground, about hip to waist level. This is called chambering. Breathe in as you do this."

'So I want to raise… which leg?' She was trying to remember what that lady was saying but she was going so fast.

"Kick your leg, snapping it forward quickly. With a front kick you can use the ball of your foot or your instep as a striking surface. As you kick, rapidly release the air in your lungs. Remember, breath in when you contract, breath out when you expand. This also will relax your body, allowing for proper technique, because holding air in means your muscles are too tense, and you are trying to control your kick too much, which weakens the kick, slows it down and tires you out faster."

'So much to remember…!' This was making her head spin.

"Now give it a shot," instructed the older woman while bending down to closely observe the younger girl's progress.

Vivio complied, using her back leg as the kicking leg. It shot forward, grazing the older woman in the face.

"ARAA…!" And there goes Olivie, fainting backwards dramatically while her armour and gauntlets vanished, leaving her in that fancy dress again while everyone stared, rather stunned at how all this turned out.

"Mom, what just happened?!"

She looked up and smiled at Touma. "Well, my son… I do believe that I was just defeated by a seven year old."

"I'm eight!" protested Vivio.

"I stand corrected." Olivie's playfulness dimmed down a bit as she carefully looked at the child. "So… you must be Vivio? Wow… I never knew I looked so adorable when I was a child."

It slowly came to the smaller girl. This was the person from the distant past. The person she had been copied from. "You're…?"

"Olivie Segbrecht. It's a pleasure to meet you. I guess since we share the same blood that would make us…" She paused for a moment. "… sisters? Or biological mother and daughter? Oh, I don't know!"

That was the last thing on Vivio's mind at the moment. "My wish… it came true!" She quickly closed her eyes and clapped her hands loudly. "I wish I had a big large bag of never ending candy that only I can see so that Nanoha-mama won't take it away from me!"

"Um, Vivio… I'm right here," said Nanoha in a flat tone.

"Geh…!" That response proved beyond a doubt that she really was her adopted mother's daughter.

It had been expected that plans would change for the evening. Instead of Olivie going to give her recollection of events on Touma's home world to the investigators, she would do that the next day. And instead of Vivio and Nanoha going out to a local restaurant for dinner, they instead settled for eating with everybody in the office cafeteria. Thank goodness that the kitchen staff worked late hours to provide something to eat for those who worked night shifts in the head office.

Hayate had been the exception as she went to check on her Knights and take them home for their own evening meal. If she had stayed, they probably would have stayed to keep an eye on things and there was a good chance that having them share a table with the Kaiser while there were still some underlying tensions would have been awkward.

The conversation had been focused on Vivio's upbringing. It was something that the older Kaiser wanted to hear so that she would be at ease in the event that she would no longer interact with the child in the future although that didn't seem likely to happen seeing how the little girl didn't want to let go of the other woman. There was so much she wanted to know about her predecessor but the child didn't mind doing the talking this time around (although she tried not to talk too much about the Cradle since that made the other woman get all gloomy and sad).

"And then when me and Nanoha-mama became a family, Fate-mama offered to be my guardian and somehow, I just got used to seeing her as my Mama too."

"So you have two mothers, hm?"

"Do you find that strange?" asked Nanoha while grabbing a slice of bread.

Olivie shook her head. "Not really. When I went around visiting various communities, I saw a fair share of households where children were raised only by women and they seemed to turn out healthy and fine. But is it alright if she grows up without a male parental figure? She might be missing out on something."

"What do you mean by that, Your Majesty?"

"My father, Matthias Segbrecht, instilled many of the values that I live by today, Ms. Carim. If not for him, I would not have been involved with the communities of common people and could have grown up with a closed heart."

"Can you elaborate a bit more on that?" Yuuno had taken out some things so that he would be able to record everything that she said.

"My daily activities on the Cradle were planned out in advance. Mornings were for combat magic and martial arts training. My grandparents and Great Uncles often tested my limits to get a good reading on my progress. Then afternoons were for studying military strategy and being involved in planning out operations to conquer worlds so that the Belkan Empire could be reborn again. Evenings were for getting familiar with different functions of the Cradle and learning how to make the most use out of those mechanical automatons that were on board. If I had continued that routine every day of the year, I probably would have turned out to be a perfect puppet Warrior King for my elders and any other powerful figures in the political landscape."

Yuuno nodded in understanding. "The Belkan political atmosphere had been described by some historical textbooks as dangerous with members of the court always looking to gain more power and influence by playing games of deception. They were people who would smile at you right up to the point when they plunge a knife into your ribs."

"That's a rather accurate description," admitted the young woman.

"You didn't have a mama to care for you?"

Olivie merely smiled sadly at Vivio. "When my mother was giving birth to me, some complications arose and it came down to a choice to save her life or mine. So I essentially grew up without a mama. The female servants that tended to me never stepped out of place and never acted as mother figures even though they looked like they wanted to."

"They probably were kept in place by the wills of those elders of yours," noted Nanoha. "But they probably couldn't keep your father in place. Is that right?"

"He knew how to navigate the political system in order to provide for me. He protected me where he could from anything that could put me in genuine danger, physically or emotionally. He always managed to find time for me when I needed his counsel. Above all, he was my friend who wanted what was best for me. It was thanks to him that I was able to leave the Cradle and stay with Ingvalt on Shutra when he saw how I was crumbling emotionally thanks to living on the ship daily. I honestly can't think I would have turned out the way I did if not for him."

"He must have been something," remarked Subaru while digging into her own meal.

"His greatest pride was being my papa next to becoming a Kaiser who could serve the people faithfully. It was something I tried to do while on Shutra and now that I'm on this planet, I would like to continue to carrying out that mission."

"So… I should ask for a papa?" asked a confused Vivio.

"Not necessarily," replied the older Kaiser gently. "If things are okay with you as they are now, then you don't need to change anything. It's your choice after all. Just don't dismiss the benefits of having a male role model."

"So what's he like, Mom? Your dad that is."

She paused for a moment to address her son's question. "Hmmm… he was a very large and outspoken man full of life. And I'm not sure if I would be able to describe him well so I'll have to try and draw an image that I can share with you all." She closed her eyes for a moment and projected the memory of her father into everybody's minds which caused a number of varied reactions.

"T-that's your papa?" squeaked out Vivio.

"Correction. That's our papa."

"He's huge!" exclaimed Subaru. "Kinda crazy looking too!"

"How does Her Majesty's father maintain those curls on his hair?" Otto found that particularly fascinating. "And what is with that purple cape and pink tunic?"

"Yes, I know it's an eyesore. I wish his choice of wardrobe was a bit more normal but what could I do?" Olivie sighed dramatically. "Maybe he did it to throw his enemies off balance by dressing in weird colours."

Nanoha chuckled once before cleaning up her tray. "Well, it's getting late and we need to be getting home. Let's go, Vivio."

"Eh? But I wanted to talk with Ollie-chan some more!"

"Ms. Carim said that we could stay at the Church for now. After I make up for not speaking with that officer today, I'll be able to enrol for proper language classes and start figuring out how I can best serve the community while Touma can get registered to go to school at that St. Hilde Academy. But if your mother doesn't mind, you can come see us after your classes end at the Church."

"WAAII!" Vivio couldn't wait for tomorrow to come. She then turned to the boy sitting by the Kaiser's side. "That means I'll get to see you lots at school, onii-chan!"

"Er… yeah, that sounds… nice." Touma just shifted uncomfortably by the way she smiled at him. Then again, who could blame him when a child version of his mother was looking up at him in adoration?

* * *

><p>"Sheesh, what a day!" exclaimed Touma as he and his mother entered the temporary quarters that were assigned to them at the Church, an hour after they finished their supper and parted ways at the Bureau office.<p>

She set down the bags that she had been carrying near the couch. "And it's only going to get busier from here. You need to get prepared to start a new student life at that St. Hilde Academy once I get that other appointment out of the way with that officer who's reopening your case."

"School, huh?" He took a quick look around their temporary home which had two bedrooms, a main living space, a washroom and a small kitchen. The laundry equipment was tucked away in a corner, consisting of some washing bats and a board. It was a bit of a comfort to Olivie, knowing that the Church still did things in a manner that she was familiar with. "I'll probably be seeing Vivio there pretty often."

"From what I remember, the school has two separate sections. Based on your age, you'll be likely to go into the middle school section so you won't be able to spend time with each other aside from lunch times and recesses."

"I just wonder how far behind I am in everything." After all, his formal education had taken a dramatic shift ever since his home town was destroyed. "That multiple choice exam is going to be scary tomorrow."

"Oh, don't stress too much about it," said Olivie gently while ruffling her son's hair. "If you want, I can wait outside your test room while you get evaluated."

"If you're going to come to school as well, you should disguise yourself like that other lady said," commented Touma.

"Carim did say I would have to do that in order not to cause any ruckus," muttered the woman to herself. She was well aware that history had recorded her as perishing at the end of the war so if she just went out in public as is, that could cause some unwanted hassle.

For the moment, she would comply with the request of the Church's director to hide her identity. Disguising herself shouldn't be too difficult. As long as her heterochromia was concealed, nobody would be able to pick upon who she really is. "I guess I'll go with that alias that Carim had suggested for me earlier. What was it again?"

* * *

><p>"Once the paperwork has been cleared in the morning at the Bureau's end, she will be registered as Elina Higgins. Her background story is that she has been caught in the middle of a political power struggle on her home world and she fled for her own safety a few years ago. She had settled on Vaizen where she took the boy under her care. And now that she's here, she is requesting that a new identity be created for her in order to protect her adopted son from being dragged into her past."<p>

"Thank you for all your hard work, Otto. For something put together on short notice that was well done." Carim hoped the story would hold up well. It wasn't out of the ordinary for new legal identification requests to be sent to the Bureau to give refugees a brand new identity in cases where they were previously well known in their home worlds. "Also, I would like it if you kept this information to yourself for the moment."

"Yes, I understand. If I may ask… is the best course of action to take, Director?"

"Honestly, this is a very unusual situation we're facing." The blonde woman got up from her desk and strolled over to a file cabinet tucked away near the bookshelf. She opened the top section and began scrolling through the files.

Otto nodded in agreement. "I guess what comes next will depend on whether the claims can be verified."

"I'm certain that once Mr. Scrya has completed his investigation and gets the genetic results back, those findings will prove that she is who she says she is. And once that is confirmed, then we will have to decide once and for all how to address the matter of the vacant throne."

"Director?"

Carim just smiled softly. "Just thinking to myself. In any case, you may take your leave. It's getting late."

Otto was a bit curious what the blonde woman meant earlier but decided to leave it be for now. "I bid you good night then, Director."

As Otto departed from the office, Carim pulled out the lengthy list of contacts and placed them on her desk. The list consisted of the name of every Saint Church Cardinal who was currently in service. Considering how many worlds they were spread across, it would be best to set a meeting date a month in advance so that they can all make their arrangements on their respective worlds before coming to the Grand Cathedral.

The last time that the College of Cardinals had gathered was after the whole JS Incident with the Saint's Cradle. The decision that had been made at the time was to leave young Vivio be and observe her carefully. If she chose to take the throne, then she would do so once she has learned all about Belkan customs and traditions and when she is of age.

But right now, they have a candidate who satisfies those conditions. Carim had no doubts that Olivie would make a fine Kaiser but how would the people react? Her concern wasn't just focused on the people who lived on the Church's land but there were also the Cardinals.

Right now, because the throne was vacant, the College of Cardinals was seen as the one with ruling power over the remaining Belkans who lived on Church grounds here on Mid-Childa and elsewhere wherever the Church had a presence. Would they acknowledge the Kaiser and yield to her claim if she chose to ascend? They may prefer to keep the status quo since things are stable at the moment. She understood that perfectly.

But the latest divination she performed with her Rare Skill, _Prophetinschriften_, indicated otherwise. From the interpretation she was able to get out of her new poem, it hinted at other aspects from Belka's past awakening. Whether it would be a threat to the current peace is uncertain but if the Kaiser took the throne and had the proper political power and influence, it would give the Director some peace of mind.

'The only hard part is to get the other Cardinals to see this as well. Especially the Dean and the Sub-Dean.' Those two were going to be the key. Since they were seen as the ultimate authority on the College of Cardinals, she would need to make her case to them first. Once they were on board, the rest would follow.


	7. The Gears of Destiny Are Turning

As usual, the secret venue was packed with the regular participants of this underground combat event along with the spectators who came to make some side bets on matches. The prize money up for grabs was worth 20,000 credits made from the entry fees paid by the participants and the bonus thrown in by the event organizer.

'Looks like it'll be another good evening tonight.' The bouncer's thoughts were interrupted by a knocking from outside the steel door. He moved to slide the miniature latch at the top to see who was outside and only saw a black visor with a pink jagged design on the front, preventing him from seeing the guest's eyes. "Yes?"

"I understand that an event is scheduled to begin at nine sharp? I would like to participate."

He briefly pondered if it was a cop in disguise who wanted to infiltrate the place. After all, this wasn't exactly a sanctioned combat event like what was run at the DSAA although there was no law in place that made it illegal to run such a fight club. "Lemme clear this up with my boss first." He slid back the latch and made a call to his superior, the one who ran the place.

It didn't take long for him to receive a response. The boss had surveillance cameras everywhere on his property. After getting a clear picture of the guest outside, a quick cross check to the most up to date police personnel list (obtained through a plant in the police force) confirmed that she wasn't one of them. With that information clearing his doubts, the bouncer opened the steel door to let her in.

She was really something. Already, she was in her barrier jacket which consisted of a light-green mini dress (with long puffy sleeves) covered by a white jacket, long white socks, and black boots. A choker on the neck topped off the appearance and her hands were equipped with customized fingerless gloves.

He shook his head briefly to get his focus back. "Just pay the entry fee and you'll be slotted into the brackets. Don't be late for your match or you'll be disqualified."

"Thank you."

'Huh… silvery green hair colour? Weird chick…' It was all he thought as she passed by him.

* * *

><p>The fee had been paid and her entry confirmed. Now all she could do is wait for her match. In the meantime, she decided to duck back into the women's washroom and hide herself in a stall. Once she was certain that nobody had trailed her and that there were no surveillance cameras around, she released her combat form in order to conserve energy.<p>

Einhart Stratos had never expected to find an event like this in her neck of the woods. Even a world like Karnarog had another side to it, concealed from the view of the TSAB. But she was grateful for this chance. Not only would she be able to get valuable live combat experience and test her Kaiser Arts, she would be able to take another step closer to her goals.

For as long as she could remember, she had these recurring dreams about Ancient Belka. A dream about regret and weakness and the inability to protect what was held dear. She didn't understand it at first and the fact that it caused her distress during her childhood years put a lot of strain on the relationship between her parents. Especially when her mother had difficulty in believing what her father had said earlier about how he and Einhart were descendants from a royal bloodline in the time of Ancient Belka and how their ancestor's regret is what is generating those dreams. He experienced them as well but because he didn't inherit a great deal of magical power, they didn't haunt his sleep too often. In Einhart's case, the dreams came every night because of how strongly her ancestor's magic manifested itself inside her.

Once she had an idea of what was causing this, the next step would be to find a way to put that regret to rest. That would mean researching and learning more about her heritage. From what she had found out so far, the best way to do that would be to go to the heart of the Saint Church itself on Mid-Childa. Enrolling into the Church's school wouldn't be too hard as they do welcome anyone with the will to learn, regardless of what world they originate from. Her parents wouldn't have minded making a move to that world.

However at the moment, it wasn't feasible due to how the nature of the work that her parents did had them rooted to this world. In a few years, they probably would be ready to go but she wasn't sure she could wait that long. So she struck a deal.

If Einhart could prove that she could manage herself responsibly and raise the money (through legal means, obviously) needed to travel and live there, she could make the move on her own. Already, she had budgeted out what she would need in terms of funding. While St. Hilde provided for living arrangements with dorms that were within walking range of the campus and had some basic necessities in place like a meal plan, she would have to earn enough funds to make her way to Mid-Childa. Civilian flights between worlds weren't cheap. And on top of that, she figured she would need training equipment to furnish her room.

So she kept her eyes and ears open for anything while saving up what she could from allowances and gifts and putting herself through heavy training to maintain her Battle Form longer. It didn't look like she would have any luck until she overheard someone at an outdoor café discussing something about a fight club. With persistence and some luck, she managed to find what she was looking for.

"**Attention please: Garoth Aynan and Heidi E.S. Ingvalt are to report to the Cage. Your match is scheduled to begin in five minutes."**

Upon hearing the intercom's announcement, she slowly released a breath before summoning her magic and replacing her visor. "Armed Form."

As she made her way to the Cage, she pondered on what she would find on that world. Perhaps inside the Grand Cathedral, there were more resources that could explain more about her ancestor beyond what was written in history textbooks.

'No… now's not the time to think about that.' She entered the arena and spotted her opponent, someone with shoulder length black hair and a barrier jacket that resembled a tuxedo of sorts.

"Is this your first time here? Maybe I should do you a favour and go easy, little lady…"

"If you want to do me a favour…" She got into her stance. "Then shut up and show me what you got!"

* * *

><p>When Hayate got into work that morning, the first thing she noticed was the DNA test results sitting on her office desk. She noted that it had only been 24 hours since a sample had been submitted by that woman the day before when she visited the base to give her account of events on Vaizen so that the case for her son could be reopened.<p>

None of the other paperwork seemed as important as she reviewed the DNA results many times on that morning. If there had been any doubts about that woman being an imposter, they were blown away with the fact that her genetic code matched Vivio's for the most part with the odds of error being less than 0.001 percent.

As she exited her office to go for lunch a few hours later, her mind drifted to the last question that needed answering. She had been aware that it was being looked into by Yuuno.

"Hayate-san!" And speaking of Yuuno, there he was now just coming down the corridor to meet her.

"Good day, Yuuno-kun. How are you doing?"

He stopped when he caught up to her. "I'm fine. I was wondering about your family though since with all that happened…"

"They're doing well. Vita-chan's still miffed about what happened the day before yesterday while Signum and Shamal are just going about as normal. I can't tell what Zafira thinks about all this but it's hard for me to imagine him getting bothered by anything that doesn't concern my safety. I guess as long as Olivie's willing to let things stay settled as they are now, he won't have any issues."

Yuuno nodded. "I see."

"You're looking a little stressed there. You okay?" asked the young lady out of concern.

"No… yes? Maybe…" He rubbed his forehead. "Well, it's related to what you asked me to look into regarding…"

"Ah, right." Hayate gave a small smile. "In that case, how about we talk about it over lunch?"

By the time they grabbed their food and an empty table, Yuuno seemed to have gathered his thoughts together. "So regarding the question you wanted me to investigate… when I thought about it some more, I determined that the best source of information on cloning would be the architect behind Project Fate so I paid a visit to Jail Scaglietti."

"I would imagine he wasn't very co-operative," replied the young woman before taking a sip from her noodle soup.

"Well, I approached him under the guise of wanting to ensure that the records regarding Project Fate were fully complete and thorough. After appealing to his pride as a scientist, he gave me a few answers. Specifically, the names of other members in the scientific community who took a strong interest in the Project. From there, I had Verossa look into those who had enough knowledge about the project to create perfect clones and once we narrowed that list down, the last thing to check was whether those scientists could have had access a blood sample from the Kaiser."

"But I thought only the Shroud of the Saint King had blood samples."

"It's the only KNOWN source of blood samples," pointed out the Librarian. "There was a possibility of another source so we had to look into that. But we didn't find any such samples among those who were on our list. Honestly, this is bringing to mind that phrase used by that Sherlock Holmes character."

"Once you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, no matter how improbable it may seem, must be the truth?" supplied Hayate.

"That's it. We've essentially eliminated the possibility of Olivie being a clone. She's the real thing… and therefore…" He trailed off as his right hand twitched in excitement.

She figured out where he was heading fairly quickly. "Are you saying…?"

"Time. Travel. EXISTS! The Kaiser is living proof of the concept! Do you understand what this means?" asked Yuuno in an excited tone.

"Um… it means that I'll be having bigger headaches trying to deal with time paradoxes? Or perhaps I'll be arguing with my future self on the type of woman that you need?"

He blinked once upon hearing that last part. "Uh… what?"

Hayate laughed nervously. "Ah, forget about it! Anyways, you were saying?"

Yuuno's confused expression vanished quickly as his mind went back to the idea. "This opens up a brand new field of science and exploration! With time travel, we can go back to the times of Ancient Belka and Al-Hazard! Get answers to unsolved mysteries such as how a world like Galea became lost. And an extra bonus to all this is how I can go up to Chrono and tell him that he was wrong about time travel being impossible! But…"

"But…?"

"At the same time, the world of time travel brings a great amount of danger. If someone travelled back in time, any change in events that occur in the past could have a catastrophic event in the future. The worst part is that if someone did successfully change the past, nobody in the future would be aware of it. A whole new field of law enforcement dedicated to protecting the timeline would have to be created to prevent anyone else from going back in time to manipulate the past for their own gain. They would probably have to be isolated from the ongoing timeline in order to retain their memories and do their jobs properly."

"You're thinking about it too much, Yuuno-kun!" Honestly, Hayate could easily see why he was so flustered with what he just discovered.

"With time travel, historians and archaeologists have a valuable tool to verify events of the past and uncover answers regarding historic mysteries and Lost Logia but at the same time, it is a tool that could affect the present and the future in many uncertain ways." He sighed once as he picked his food. "Is the very thing we yearn for the one thing we should never obtain?"

"Just because there's a proof of concept doesn't mean we'll crack open the mechanics of time travel right away."

"At the very least, we should set up something like a Temporal Investigation department," said Yuuno.

"Are you expecting a huge influx of time travellers now?" teased the young woman.

He let out a small chuckle before taking a bite out of his meal. "I guess not…"

* * *

><p>"Be sure to carve these words into your heart, young man! I'm only going to say this once!"<p>

"… Okay?" Sheesh, this female Student Council President really was passionate about things here. Then again, Touma should have figured that out earlier considering how her braided red hair whirled about furiously with each gesture she made.

"Hard work and raw courage are the keys to success at St. Hilde! They are the ingredients to create miracles in tough times!"

"You'll have to forgive my older sister. She's really passionate about the idea of hard work and effort being able to achieve anything," said the other occupant in the room, a young lady with long pink hair and a little flower clip attached to her white and red headband.

"It's not an idea! It's a truth! With enough hard work and a pure focus, one can reach any goal they set. From making it to the school or job of your dreams…" She paused for dramatic emphasis. "… To toppling God herself."

Before he could wonder about that last bit, the other girl got his attention. "In any case, I reviewed your test results, Touma-kun. I have an idea on which areas we'll be focusing on in the next few weeks to help you get caught up to the school curriculum."

The boy smiled a bit. "In that case, I look forward to your tutelage, Kyrie-sempai! Amitie-sempai!"

"Don't you worry, Touma-kun," purred the pink haired girl as she patted him on the head. "We'll take good care of you."

* * *

><p>In a sense, it was good that Hayate had been the one to point out this possibility of a Rare Skill or some other Belkan spell being responsible for creating a strong enough effect to keep Olivie in a frozen state for almost a century. That sounded a bit more plausible. Yuuno was certain that if it had been Chrono who had pointed that out, then it was certain that the Admiral would definitely never let him live it down.<p>

But in any case, his mood had been a bit soured from hearing that. His research goals would have to be adjusted in order to get to the bottom of this case. He needed to think about this for a bit. Perhaps a nice stroll through the city, away from the office, would help jog his thinking cap.

So he would first have to start with checking into how well Knight Armour holds up against a deep freezing effect. Naturally, they should be strong enough to allow Knights to operate in cold weather conditions. Next, he would have to dig deep into his archives and see if there were any Belkan spells or Rare Skills that could satisfy the conditions of keeping someone in suspended animation for a long period of time. He would also need to look into whether there were any natural phenomena that could contribute to creating that effect. But what else should he be considering?

"Excuse me? Are you Yuuno Scrya?"

His train of thought stopped when he heard an unfamiliar female voice call out to him. After taking a moment to trace the source, he saw a young woman dressed in a luxurious blue dress. She had blonde hair that had been tied up with blue ribbons on the sides and green eyes. On her right was a young man dressed in an evening tail coat matched with formal striped trousers and a black long tie. Considering their overall appearance, the young lady was obviously someone wealthy since she had a butler as her companion.

'Hm… a possible new patron for archaeological research?' It's certainly a possibility. His work often generated considerable attention among the public and it wasn't the first time he had been approached by interested and rich sponsors. "Yes, that's me. Is there something I can help you with?"

The young lady did look delighted on getting his identity correct. "Actually, there is. I was wondering if you had a chance to look at the request I submitted to your research department last week."

"Sorry but you will have to be a bit more specific. My research department receives several requests on a regular basis," replied the Librarian.

"I had sent in a small journal dating from the Belkan era which belongs to my ancestor, the Thunder Emperor Dahlgrün."

"Thunder Emperor…?" He couldn't remember off the top of his head of a Belkan historical figure with that title.

This caused the young lady to get a little flustered. "Well, I understand that he isn't as well known in the history books like the Kaiser, the Hegemon or the Flame King but I can assure you that he played an important role in the Ancient Belkan political landscape! Once the journal's authenticity has been verified, the writings can get translated which will undoubtedly cause the history books to be rewritten and…!"

"Please compose yourself, my Lady," said the butler.

"Right… thank you, Edgar."

Yuuno took a moment to understand what she had just said. "So let me get this straight, Miss…"

"Victoria Dahlgrün."

"Basically the artifact you had submitted to us contains writings from your ancestor himself, Miss Victoria. And you wish for us to verify the journal's age and decipher the contents?"

She nodded once. "Yes. The tale of my ancestor had never been told and I intend to change that with the journal and have the history books rewritten. Now have you been able to perform a complete analysis on it?"

"It's not that simple, madam," replied Yuuno. "Verifying the authenticity and the age of an artifact takes quite a bit of time. Normally, the average turnaround time is two weeks since the sample has to be submitted to the lab for thermoluminescence dating and…"

Both Victoria and Edgar shared a glance when the other man just trailed off. "What is it?"

'… that's the ticket! Radiocarbon dating tests on her cellular material can verify the passage of time at the molecular level!' It shouldn't be too hard to get her to lend a few tissue samples for analysis. Then the trick would be to determine if at any point in time, her cellular structure had experienced a stop in biological activity due to the cryopreservation effect. Of course, that field was far from his level of expertise so he would need to dig into his network and gather more research but as this was a step in a positive direction, he felt a lot better than he did earlier.

He needed to get back to the office and start making some calls…!

"Um, Mr. Scrya? Where are you going?"

Victoria's concerned tone snapped him back to reality just as he started to move. "Oh, right! What I can do is I can put a higher priority on getting a proper analysis done on the item that you had submitted. It'll be my way of saying thanks!"

"… you're welcome?" It was all she could say really as the other man had already started running back to his workplace.


	8. Drachenklaue

The day had started out normally for Schach Nouera. Waking up, engaging in morning prayers, breakfast and then morning combat practice with the younger Sisters. But it had taken a strange turn when Carim had called her into the office and dropped some bombshell news in that the Church currently was housing another Kaiser: the last known member of the bloodline, Olivie Segbrecht.

'Another Kaiser…' The thought had been unreal to the nun.

There were two reasons she had been informed. One was that another trusted character can help support the Kaiser while she transitions to living in this time frame and help keep the cover story going. As for the second reason…

"_I seem to recall that when the younger Kaiser had wandered off on her own in the complex about two years ago, you had immediately assumed the worst and confronted her with Windenschaft. Now imagine what would happen if you were to repeat that same action with our other guest."_

Yes, she could certainly see the Director's point. A confrontation like that would only lead to a trip to the intensive care ward and blow this latest secret wide out into the open which is something that is not desired at this point.

Schach had wanted to know what Olivie was like since it was obvious that Carim had met the Kaiser previously. Otherwise, she would not have been sharing this information. But that question had to wait since both women had to attend to their morning duties.

The nun had managed to stay focused enough not to let the news distract her from her usual routine. She still was able to go through her combat and etiquette lesson plans. And she was still sharp enough to detect misbehaving students and discipline them. By late afternoon, she had already sent Sein to potato peeling duty again and confiscated a DSAA Inter-Middle Registration package that Chantez had managed to sneak in. 'Honestly, that girl…'

"ASTEION, FIGHTTOO~!"

It wasn't difficult for Schach to pick up that shrill cry from the lounge up ahead. Obviously, someone was neglecting their duties to watch one of those Belkan fantasy drama programs on television. Putting her best stern look on, she stepped into the room and got close to the individual seated on the couch to administer a verbal scolding. "What do you think you're do-"

She had been cut off quickly as the blonde haired female seated on the couch suddenly turned around with total excitement in those green eyes. "Come, sit down and watch this with me! We're getting close to the best part where Tio has to outsmart Greven to save his friends!"

"Shouldn't you be focusing on your chores?"

"I know but as soon as I got a glimpse of this program with Asteion, I couldn't help it!"

"I don't believe that I have seen you around before. Are you new?" Perhaps that explained the lady's poor etiquette.

"That's right! My name's Elina Higgins."

The name sounded familiar and it took the nun a moment to remember the alias that the Director said was being used. "Elina… Higgins? Then you must be…!"

"Ah, so you know about that little secret," said the other woman as her left eye briefly turned red to reveal its true colour. Before Schach could move back to properly greet the Kaiser with a low bow, her hand was held in a firm grip. "Now, remember that I'm supposed to be someone else here so there will be none of that. Do you understand?"

"Er, yes."

A sunny smile appeared on Olivie's face before the disguise spell went over her left eye again. "We can talk a bit later after I finish this program. Is that okay with you?"

Once again, the same response came from Schach. "Er, yes."

"Good!"

The program came to an end after another ten minutes. Ten minutes in which Schach felt quite awkward. It wasn't just the fact that she was sitting right beside the last Saint King. It was also because said King was a total fan of the Asteion stories and clearly demonstrated that fanaticism.

'There's no way the last Saint King could be this childish!' This was the mantra that Schach kept repeating in her head to maintain her grip on the Saint King's image that she had held for many years.

"That was fun!" Olivie leaned back on the couch. "So what did you think of that episode?"

"Uh…" She really wasn't sure how to respond since she really didn't pay attention to the show.

"What is that?" Without warning, the blonde woman's hands stole away the papers that Schach had been carrying earlier.

"Ah! That is…!" She totally forgot to throw out Chantez's registration package from the DSAA. "That's just a registration package for a combat tournament. It's called the Inter-Middle and it's very well known around here for younger mages between 10 to 19 years of age to demonstrate their skills."

"So this Inter-Middle Tournament is what you people use to assess combat talent these days?" asked Olivie as she continued flipping through the pamphlet. Even though she couldn't read a word of it, some of the photos showed different young girls engaging each other in magical combat.

"Yes, it is."

She paused for a moment as her eyes took on an odd gleam. "You know, I can probably pass for someone around 19 years of age."

"What?! You cannot be serious about entering the Inter-Middle! It's not a tournament for seasoned warriors!"

"But come on!" whined Olivie. "All those exotic and new fighting styles are out there just waiting to cross fists with me!"

"And going out there in public using your combat style and magical powers would defeat the entire purpose of trying to keep you concealed for the time being! We have to abide by the Director's decision on that!" Schach was really hoping the other woman would see reason.

"It really is too bad. Then again, it wouldn't be appropriate if we older folk interrupted the fun of the younger ones."

Thank goodness for small miracles. "That's true. The younger mages should be the ones to get this valuable experience."

"In that case, perhaps I should get Touma to participate. It will be a good way for him to get a true taste of battle and I can get involved as a coach or something!" She noticed the clock's display. "And he should even be coming back from school any minute! I'll go ask him now and get started on filing these papers!"

"Huh?! Wait…!" This isn't the outcome that Schach had envisioned for this particular conversation.

"Thank you very much!" Off Olivie went, giddy as a school girl to get her son registered for the tournament.

And once again, Schach was forced to go back to her mental mantra to keep her sanity.

'There's no way the last Saint King could be this childish!'

A few weeks later, Touma found himself in front of a mirror to see his new look. His attire for his upper half of his body consisted of a white dress shirt and a black vest covering most of his upper torso except for the arms. A pair of grey dress pants and black dress shoes made up the rest of the outfit and he also had a pair of black fingerless gloves.

"Fufufu… my special little man is looking very sharp here!" He felt his mother's arms rest on his shoulders, admiring the work that she had put into creating this barrier jacket for the boy. "Vivio-chan, what do you think?"

"Umu! Onii-chan looks cool!" Vivio gave her own sign of approval complete with the thumbs up gesture.

"So this is my Knight Clothing? I guess this explains a few things that I was seeing for the past few weeks."

"Like what?"

"Like your recent slip ups in Mid-Childan language class. Seriously, how do you get 'I do you school buses' from 'I come to school by train'?" asked the boy in a curious tone.

"Ahaha…" Olivie decided to switch the subject before Vivio start asking more on that particular language faux pas. "I made sure that this outfit maximizes mobility and speed for your movements so you should do fine at the preliminaries."

"It really took two weeks to design this?" Touma knew that there was more to it.

"Well, I did end up designing two sets of Knight Armour before realizing that those would not be appropriate for the upcoming tournament." She turned back to take out two rolled up scrolls and unravelled them for her son to see.

The first one had a white cape along with predominantly black coloured armour over a black bodysuit. The black helmet had a V shaped green surface along with a horn at the top. "Oi… that would have made me look like some dark magician or something."

"That's true and I was certain the cape would have gotten in the way of combat so I scrapped the Exodus armour design." Her eyes moved over to the other picture of a silver spandex suit with chest armour, silver gauntlets and a silver helmet complete with a large green surface to cover the facial features. "The _Silberkrähe_ armour is a far leaner design but I think it's borrowing too many aspects of that other super hero show that's on nowadays and I didn't want to give that odd of an impression."

"Uh huh… and that's how you came to the conclusion that an outfit resembling a school uniform works," said Touma.

"You should see what some of the other contestants are wearing," replied his mother. Seriously, what's with that girl in that DSAA pamphlet wearing only a strip of cloth made out of thick cotton underneath that big jacket of hers? Whatever happened to decency when it came to protective wear for mages and knights?

"Mom, you didn't answer my question earlier about whether all this really took two weeks to put together. Because I know that designing a barrier jacket and putting it together isn't exactly something that hard to do."

"That's true," nodded Olivie before she produced a small box from her dress pocket and handed it to the boy. "I had quite a bit of help from the Church in building the device when you said that you wanted to continue combat training relying mainly on your fists instead of some other weapon like a sword or a staff."

"So that's onii-chan's device?!" Vivio looked pretty excited. "Take it out and show us!"

Touma opened the box and drew out a shining ruby which was sculpted like a dragon's scale. "If it was just built, then I need to do a Master Confirmation Rite."

Olivie nodded. "That's right. You will have to give it a proper name too."

"I do have one in mind. After all, the rules said I would need a device so I thought up of a few names." With that said the boy held out the scale in his right hand before initiating the ritual and conjuring up a Belkan Triangle beneath his feet. "Confirming master: Touma Avenir. Your formal name shall be _Drachenklaue_, nick name Ddraig."

"Roger."

Immediately, the scale changed shape to fit over his right hand, wrist and part of his arm to form a red armoured gauntlet with golden spikes on the side and a green gem on top of the hand. This caused Vivio's mismatched eyes to widen in excitement. "Cool!"

"This has been a bit overdue but congratulations on reaching the age of adulthood," said Olivie before embracing her son. "And 'Dragon's Claw' is a very appropriate name for it. Good to know that you're getting more comfortable with learning Belkan."

She moved back to give the boy some space to examine _Drachenklaue_. "I wonder if I can pull off your Shining Finger move with this device."

"Who knows? You'll just have to train hard and try that technique when you feel ready."

He paused a bit before noticing a very interesting component on his device tucked away closer to the wrist section. "And is that a cartridge system there?"

"I had it built in there so in any future extreme emergencies, you can have access to a little extra power. Obviously, this system will remain locked down until I am convinced that you have physically and mentally matured enough to use such power wisely." Olivie then gave a sunny smile. "I did add one more special feature to your device. _Drachenklaue_, level one please. "

The green gem glowed once before Touma felt his whole body become heavier and his magical energy drain away. "W-what is this?"

"A little something to drain your physical and magical stamina. By bearing this load, this will help to increase your growth! Ah, I wish I had something like this when I was your age but back in my day, we only had the AMF condition training in the Cradle and had to wear external weights."

"How long is this supposed to last for?" grunted Touma.

Olivie snapped back to reality upon hearing that question. "As long as I see fit. Once you get comfortable with your current level, I'll continue to increase the load. So how about we go outside and start today's training?"

"Maybe you should start with Vivio first today instead of me. I just need a bit of time to get used to this new feeling."

"Is that alright with you, Vivio?" asked the older woman.

"Sure, let's go!"

It was only the three of them at the training courtyard at the Church that afternoon. Schach's classes had already finished for the day so that left it free for the trio to use. Both Olivie and Vivio had changed to appropriate workout attire with the latter in her Adult Mode so she could channel higher levels of magic. As for Touma, he had started doing some warm up exercises now that he had gotten used to the limiter placed on him.

Ever since the first meeting back at the simulation arena, Vivio had devoted more of her free time towards her training in magical combat. The Strike Arts classes helped with basic physical conditioning so any time spent with Olivie was focused on learning more about the power that ran through her blood and the combat techniques used by the Belkan royalty. Considering the requirement of using high speed parallel processing to maximize the effectiveness of the style, Olivie knew that Vivio had her work cut out for her.

So to ease the younger girl into learning that style of martial arts, she started with Kaiserfarbe manipulation which is one of the key skills to master. What made it different is the way the aura manifested itself to create projectiles, shields and other effects. Instead of using a standard linking process with pre-determined formulas, emotional triggers and willpower played a larger factor in getting the magic to work.

Vivio tried to remember the words that Olivie had mentioned to her and began focusing. As she concentrated, her magical aura slowly came to life around her. 'The part of me that leaps at every joy, that shakes when I'm scared, that hurts when I feel loss…'

"Once you have a good feel of where that energy is coming from, take control of that energy, guide it and form it into your hands. Then slowly release it," instructed the older woman from the side.

With a small grunt, Vivio managed to start forming a small ball of magic just above the palm of her hand.

"Now try shaping it into another form."

Another moment passed with the only sound coming from the younger girl's hard breathing as she continued her exercises. It didn't take long until the ball of magic dissipated and Vivio collapsed to her knees, releasing her Adult Mode. "It's… no good!"

"Let's take a break then." Olivie grabbed a water bottle and handed it over to Vivio but the younger girl didn't take it. "Vivio, what's wrong?"

"I'm sorry. You've been trying to teach me for so long but…"

"You've only been learning from Mom for two weeks. Aren't you being too hard on yourself?" asked Touma in a curious tone from his spot.

"If Ollie-chan taught Nanoha-mama or Fate-mama, they would probably understand what she's saying quickly," replied Vivio glumly. "And I bet that Ollie-chan learned quickly when she was training at my age."

Touma's attention turned to his mother. "Is that true, Mom?"

"I guess that's true. I do remember mastering some new special techniques at that age. The one that sticks out the most at the time is _Phoenix Kicken_ since it's a very fast kicking combination sequence to pull off. What made this memorable to me was my instructor telling me that I had to go 'ATATATATATA!' constantly while performing the move and use a 'WA-TAH!' when going for the finish."

Olivie going down memory lane really didn't improve the mood of the younger girl. "So in other words, Ollie-chan probably would have learned that quickly. Maybe I'm just not good enough to be a strong fighter. Especially if my Linker Core…"

"What do you mean?" asked Touma.

Vivio paused to remember exactly what she had been told a few months ago. "When I saw Dr. Shamal for a checkup earlier, she said that my Linker Core's natural development had been hurt because of the forced insertion and destruction of the Relic and that my magical point maximum output had been reduced by around ten to fifteen percent. Nanoha-mama thought it had been her fault that I ended up like that."

"Is that so?" Now Olivie at least knew why Nanoha had reacted the way she did when she approached the other woman on taking Vivio as a student. "Still you shouldn't be discouraged, Vivio. All martial artists face all sorts of adversities and doubt themselves at many points through their life but they persevere. If you don't give up, I know you'll discover that deep down you've got the heart of a warrior."

"How can you possibly know that? Why do you think I could possibly have what it takes?"

"Because you remind me a lot of a child I used to know who had the eagerness and drive to learn the martial arts. She has the same eyes as you and her own little handicap as well and look how she turned out," said the older woman with a smile.

Vivio's eyes widened and she stared at her teacher in surprise. "You…?"

"Touma, please come here." The boy nodded and moved towards his mother before taking a firm grip of her elbows, already knowing what she would do. "_Freilassen_."

Mini Belkan triangles appeared near the space just above her elbows before the limbs separated from her upper body much to Vivio's shock. Olivie now stood in front of her with only stumps for arms. "You… had no arms?"

"That's right. The artificial limbs here were made by my friend Myrddin based off the original idea that Jeremiah had. He really did a great job with these!" The limbs that were held by Touma matched the skin colour of the older woman perfectly and the size of her hands and fingers were also correctly proportionate to her body size. "Although, it felt really weird having arms again for a bit since I trained for years just to use kicking moves. I had to play quite a bit of catch up!"

"Do you want these back now, Mom?"

"If you don't mind." Touma lined up the limbs again before Olivie spoke another Belkan command to reattach them properly. "_Binden_."

"… you had no arms at the beginning and yet…" Vivio got up, reactivating Adult Mode in the process before taking the same stance as before. "Ollie-chan, I'm sorry I questioned your confidence in me! I promise I won't disappoint you and I'm going to perfect this technique if it's the last thing I do!"

"Do your best, Vivio!"


End file.
